It was a credit to United's defense that we saw a return to the old-style Diego Costa, pushing players over once the ball had gone out of play, holding his face in the hope of getting another player in trouble and generally causing trouble for the wrong reasons.
Meanwhile, Jose Mourinho, Manchester United's manager was understandably chuffed yesterday, proclaiming that he had found a system to halt Chelsea's seemingly unstoppable march to the title.
Ashley Young's persistence opened space for Herrera and the Spaniard's shot from the edge of the penalty area deflected off Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma before looping over Begovic.
"I think we didn't play a good game and United deserved to win the game because they showed more desire, motivation and ambition".
"They [Chelsea] have played great and obviously Eden [Hazard] is a very special player but we have played against him this season and we have played against Chelsea this season and we won", Vertonghen said when asked about the threats posed by Chelsea's forward line. "In this case the fault is of the coach".
The result didn't just blow open the title race, it also left the battle for Champions League qualification intriguingly poised.
The three points took them into fifth spot, four points behind fourth-placed City. If we can play like we did against Chelsea then I am sure we can get through against Anderlecht and into the semi finals.
Mourinho set his team up in a similar way when United fell to a 1-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge in the FA Cup last month after being reduced to 10 men following Herrera's red card. Rashford excelled up front, stretching Chelsea's center backs with the kind of movement and pace that Ibrahimovic would not be able to offer.
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And Mourinho was thrilled with the display of his striker in the 2-0 victory, as well as highlighting the contributions of centre-backs Eric Bailly and Marcos Rojo.
Checkout both the goals and match highlights right here.
In the build-up to Rashford's goal, Herrera blocked with his hand a pass from Nemanja Matic but the infringement wasn't picked up. The balance of the team was so much better amid the absence of Ibrahimovic, who has at times carried the squad this season.
Two of those games are against relegation candidates in Middlesbrough and Sunderland while the others are against beatable mid-table teams in Southampton and Watford.
Tottenham have the best defence in the division this season having conceded just 22 league goals.
"These kinds of games give us confidence and everyone is concentrating in this end of the season because we know we play for two big opportunities", said Matteo.
"We are lucky, we must be proud to have this type of situation because we are doing a very good job".
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