Alvaro Morata flourishes where Romelu Lukaku falters in Chelsea vs Manchester United story that was nearly so different

Both strikers on display at Stamford Bridge could easily have been wearing the other shirt, but there is only one of them who now looks like fuelling a future title charge

(Chelsea FC via Getty Images)

Jose Mourinho had been desperate for recognition this week. A man in need of a hug and a pat on the head, he spent his Thursday press conference delving into the sort of playground-level analysis that concluded his side’s victory over Tottenham deserved more credit in the wake of Spurs dispatching Real Madrid in midweek. Either you can take from that pair of results that Jose Mourinho’s United are superior to the team that completely outplayed them in the European Super Cup a couple of months ago, or you could decide that each game lives in its own particular context and that, shorn of Harry Kane, United got a good time to play Mauricio Pochettino’s challengers.

And the context of this game was that both sides desperately needed a win to remain title challengers after Manchester City had earlier defeated Arsenal. The gap was getting bigger and for Mourinho to chase down his old rival, Pep Guardiola, he was going to have to pull off a result against his old love – and new rival – Chelsea and Antonio Conte.

For Conte it was also a game full of meaning. A happy first year in west London has already melted away with the summer and what is left is a marriage of convenience. Conte’s internal powerplay during the off-season was a catastrophic failure and, when twinned with a run of bad results, means his future here is anything but secure. A win today has no doubt helped and the Blues are now part of a top four that has opened up a little bit of a gap to its challengers. But nothing feels cut and dried in a season with plenty of football yet to be played.

This was a game you might have expected to be tight, with few chances. It was, after all, a Mourinho team away from home. But the first half in particular saw a lot of opportunities and particularly in the wildly open early exchanges.

In the end, though, it was decided by one goal from a man who should have had more and no goals from a player who can’t seem to score any right now.

Romelu Lukaku used to play for Chelsea, was expecting to come back to Chelsea but now plays for Manchester United. Alvaro Morata should have been playing for Manchester United today but Chelsea, for whom he now plays, gazumped United who then tried to claim former Chelsea striker Lukaku had been their top target all along.

With such a complicated web of transfers and deceit, you’d be forgiven for thinking that it would be right time to compare the fortunes of these star-crossed strikers, a pair whose plot-lines could have been so different had it been for a phone call here or a text message there.

Morata will walk away from this match with the spoils; three points, a title challenge reignited and his name on the scoresheet for the match’s only goal. Decisive and intelligent, Morata has been a wonderful foil for Eden Hazard though we have only seen that in snatches due to injuries and all those other things that get in the way with heavily-packed fixture lists. When they play together and find space, though, the product is usually remarkable, never more so than in that win at Atletico Madrid but reappearing in spurts today.


 Romelu Lukaku was outshined by opposite number Alvaro Morata (Getty)
 (AFP/Getty Images)

While Hazard provided most of the electricity and zip in Chelsea’s attack, travelling with the ball and pushing United’s buttons, he was nothing to do with the winning goal, a majestic leap from Morata, who hung in the air and headed back across David De Gea’s goal and into the corner. A textbook header from a player whose technique is so sound it is as if he has read the football manual. He is surely the best header of the ball in the Premier League.

Morata had almost given Chelsea the lead in the first half, only for Anthony Taylor to decide that a clumsy Phil Jones own goal was too clumsy even for him, and that Morata must have pushed him. Replays were less conclusive, but Taylor was whistle-happy on an afternoon when bitty fouls reigned.

For all the Spaniard’s success, Lukaku at the other end didn’t fare quite so well. A streaky player who is currently on a streak that he won’t be enjoying, it’s nearly 500 minutes without a goal for the Belgian forward, and he never really got close to scoring one today.

There was vague hope when United threw on Anthony Martial with 30 minutes to go that we might see United’s best front three on the pitch together and firing. Instead, the Frenchman’s combination with Lukaku and Rashford offered precious little as Mourinho resorted to trying to fire long-range missiles to Marouane Fellaini rather than anything resembling cohesive attacking play.

And on the day it was that which separated these two teams.

Morata's header was a brilliant finish from the edge of the area (Getty)

Both sides defended stoutly and the midfield battle was fierce, if a little tangled. But Chelsea put together several attacking moves that created clear goalscoring opportunities. United’s, barring a Rashford header early on, were a tiring boxer’s desperate swings at a superior rival.

Chelsea win and tag onto the top four. Mourinho is still in there but further away from his real goal, catching Pep Guardiola’s City.

And for a man desperate for recognition for his team’s performances this week, this was a display that he won’t want to hear too much more about.