Still Special!

HE'S still got it. Still got the ability to shock, to seize a game they were not expected to win and leave a tactical grand master looking as if he needed more than a post-match word in his ear. This was checkmate against Deep Blue.
Just when you thought Jose Mourinho may have lost the knack, the plot and become a grumpy, old defeatist shell of the dashing man o' war that took the Premier League by storm 13 years ago, he rediscovers his mojo.
Forget the title race – one look at the remaining fixtures will reassure a stunned and bewildered Antonio Conte that it's still in the bag – this could be a seminal moment for Mourinho and Manchester United. The only mystery was why it had taken him so long.
But we should have known he was up to something. Prioritising the Europa League, admitting players were tired – in Zlatan Ibrahimovic's case, "over-tired" – picking on people, blaming the fixture list. He was not just making excuses, he was stockpiling them.
Some even thought it was a manager in meltdown or at least an unsubtle way of ensuring a huge budget for the next transfer window. As far as the top four was concerned, it looked like surrender.
Make no mistake, this game mattered to him. Deeply hurt by "Judas" cries from his former devotees and humiliated by two defeats to essentially the same Chelsea he'd shunted towards the relegation zone, another loss here would have been too much for his ego to bear.
But no one saw this coming. Under an archetypal Mancunian sky, there was not a bus in sight – only two lightning-fast sports cars that shot off the grid to catch Chelsea napping.
With other slow coaches parked on the bench – Henrikh Mkhitaryan was also there – it was almost 4-4-2 with the pace of Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard stretching an already rearranged visiting defence.
For once, United had the luck – with Thibaut Courtois and Marcos Alonso suffering pre-match ailments – Chelsea's defensive formation was disrupted and then the ref missed a blatant handball.
On such trifles, dynasties and careers can hinge. And when Rashford slotted home after seven minutes you sensed this was not going to be another of those days when a lesser team refuses to be cowed and an unheralded keeper plays out of his skin.
Old Trafford had been at its wit's end with frustration. Nothing had changed since David Moyes had defused the default swagger: three managers but the same stultifying stodginess. On Sunday, it found its old voice.
In what was surely one of his finest managerial performances, he also managed to nullify Chelsea's main threat by getting Ander Herrera to stick to Eden Hazard as if joined at the hip.
As good as the Belgian playmaker is, Mourinho knows only too well that he needs space and doesn't relish the mano a mano – that was why they fell out so badly – and Herrera carried out his manager's instructions to the last stud.
Looking every inch the ideal combative Mourinho player, the little Spaniard still found time for a goal and an assist, albeit both with an element of fortune. His laser-like throughball for Rashford's goal came after handling and his second half clincher took a huge deflection, but he fully deserved to be man of the match.
Others worthy of mention include Ashley Young who treated the armband as if it actually meant something, Michael Carrick who showed his calm authority and centre-backs, Eric Bailly and Marcos Rojo, who reduced Diego Costa to snarling ineffectiveness.
But by far the most eye-catching performance was that of Rashford. With the self-styled old "lion" requiring a lie-in, there was still a mighty roar from United's centre-forward, the old-fashioned term best describing the young cub's natural position.
Released from water-carrying duties on the wing and relishing centre stage, he banished thoughts of second season syndrome in a trice and may not only cause a rethink about the giant Swede's contract, but even the need to spend £90m on Antoine Griezmann.
It may seem lunacy to question a player who has scored 37% of United's goals but the difference between the old lion and the young lionheart was from statuesque and ponderous to fast-forward.
As great as Ibra has been, his lack of pace has contributed to the stodgy build-up which enables defences to regroup. Yes, he can sometimes still find a hole to poke a goal through but the team cannot play in the counter-attacking way that Mourinho wants and in which Rashford – and to a lesser extent Lingard – would flourish.
To abandon the pursuit of the world-class Griezmann and expect the 19-year-old to take on the main striker burden would be a massive risk, so it could be Lingard who misses out – or Ibra himself.
Unless he's going to play regularly, the Swede won't stay but you can't play him, Griezmann and Rashford in the same team. Anyhow, for Mourinho, it is a welcome dilemma to have and Rashford does look the real deal.
For Conte, there is also much to ponder. Perhaps his side are not as good and more easily rumbled than we thought. But as surprising as the laboured efforts of his players was the inertia of the manager.
His substitutions were too little too late and he seemed flummoxed by Mourinho's tactics.
He will not blow it now but the FA Cup semifinal with Spurs will take on extra meaning. But it was Mourinho's day – as well as finding redemption, he showed he can still be special and because of that Old Trafford can still dream.