Jesse Lingard completes Manchester United comeback in blow to Chelsea's top-four hopes

Manchester United 2 Chelsea 1: Jesse Lingard’s close-range header clinched three points for Jose Mourinho’s side after Romelu Lukaku had cancelled out Willian’s opener

Jesse Lingard heads home the decisive goal (Getty Images)

Romelu Lukaku still has much to prove to many at Manchester United, but if he delivers more performances like this he will soon shake off that 'flat-track bully' tag.

The Belgian put in his most influential performance in a red shirt yet to score and set-up the goals that would give Jose Mourinho’s side a valuable victory over Antonio Conte’s Chelsea in the battle to finish as the Premier League’s ‘best of the rest’.

That much looked unlikely when Willian capped off the visitors’ lively start with an opening goal after half an hour, but inspired by two Stamford Bridge old boys in Lukaku and the excellent Nemanja Matic, United rallied to equalise and then lead.

Lukaku levelled with his first goal against 'top six' opposition this season, his first career goal against Chelsea too, and then delivered a cross for Jesse Lingard to head home the winner.

This was not a classic encounter by any stretch of the imagination, and Chelsea may feel aggrieved that Alvaro Morata saw a late goal ruled out for offside, but that will matter little to Mourinho. Victory not only allowed United to regain second place in the table but also gave their manager the scalp of a personal rival.

Mourinho and Conte - best of enemies since their bitter public feud last month - brought their war of words to an amicable end by shaking hands before kick-off, but when the gesture was repeated after the final whistle, Conte had been humbled.

Their spat began when Mourinho criticised Conte’s animated touchline behaviour, so it was ironic that the United manager had to spend the opening stages waving his arms around on the edge of his technical area, attempting to arrest his side’s sluggish start.

Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte gesture from the touchline (Getty)

Chelsea came out of the traps quickest and only Morata’s erratic finishing prevented them from taking the lead after just four minutes. The Spaniard, preferred up front to Olivier Giroud, ended a flowing move from the visitors by volleying Marcos Alonso’s first-time cross against the bar.

David de Gea could only watch the strike zip past him and bounce back off the woodwork, but he was able to tip over Eden Hazard’s follow-up from the rebound.

United were overran in these first few minutes and though Mourinho’s midfield gradually began to contain their opponents, it was no surprise that Chelsea scored first. The in-form Willian both started and finished the fast transition from defence to attack, first exchanging passes with Hazard, slipping away from his marker Scott McTominay and then slotting in at the near post.

It was a tidy finish but one you might expect the world’s most celebrated goalkeeper to stop, particularly after Wednesday’s heroics in Seville.

Willian slams a shot through David de Gea (Getty Images)

Just half an hour in and things already appeared bleak for United. Mourinho later admitted “the beginning of the game was blue,” and his side needed to dramatically improve having shown next to no guile or invention. Yet they did not need to wait long for an equaliser and it would come out of virtually nothing.

After battling well to win a knockdown on the edge of the box, Lukaku laid the ball off to Matic to initiate a spot of quick interplay that cut through Chelsea’s cumbersome defence. After Anthony Martial just about managed to play the final delicate pass out of his feet, Lukaku - like Willian before him - finished what he had started and slid the ball past Courtois.

United hardly deserved to be level but with parity restored, their confidence grew as Chelsea’s wilted. The hosts were the better side for the remainder of the match, but struggled and Lukaku came close to scoring a second after the break, forcing Courtois into a save at full stretch after acrobatically volleying Alexis Sanchez’s lofted pass.

Lingard celebrates his winner (Getty Images) (Man Utd via Getty Images)

Clear-cut opportunities remained at a premium however, with neither defence appearing particularly uncomfortable. If there was to be a winning goal, it would fall to whoever could make the most out of a half chance. Fortunately for United, Lingard is making quite a habit of doing just that.

Having replaced Martial as a second-half substitute, the winger ghosted in behind a sleeping Andreas Christensen to meet Lukaku’s near-post cross and nod the ball home. The timing of his run deserved credit, but the goal owed much to its creator, who showed neat feet to dance around Pedro out on the right before delivering a well-placed centre.

United retreated for the final quarter of an hour and would successfully protect their slender lead, but only by a matter of inches. Morata’s disallowed late strike was contentiously ruled out for offside and left Conte bemoaning the lack of video technology in English football’s top-flight.

“This type of situation can change the final result and for this reason I am very positive to introduce VAR, especially in England,” he said. “In England we need this new system to help the referee avoid mistakes.”

Yet Chelsea had made mistakes of their own by contriving to lose from a winning position. Victory would have seen them draw level in the table with United. Defeat, after Tottenham's late win at Crystal Palace, leaves them outside of the top four for the first time since October. They only had themselves - and perhaps one Romelu Lukaku - to blame.

Manchester United: De Gea; Valencia, Smalling, Lindelof, Young; McTominay, Matic, Pogba; Sanchez, Lukaku, Martial.

Substitutes not used: Pereira, Mata, Carrick, Rashford, Shaw.

Chelsea: Courtois; Azpilicueta, Christensen, Rudiger; Moses, Drinkwater, Kanté, Alonso, Willian, Hazard; Morata.

Substitutes not used: Caballero, Zappacosta, Cahill, Emerson.

Referee: M Atkinson (West Yorkshire)

Attendance: 75,060