United's performance in adversity bodes well going forward

United's performance at Stamford Bridge was undoubtedly the best by a visiting side in many a year and we can count ourselves mightily unlucky to come away with nothing.

The game at champions elect Chelsea- who now only need six points for the title- was a tough enough proposition anyway but when two of United's best performers this season- Michael Carrick and Daley Blind (along with Marcos Rojo and Phil Jones) were ruled out with injury, the task ahead of the Reds was akin to climbing Everest.

Going to the champions elect (a side that have not lost at home in the league all season) without your best defensive distributors and standing a chance of victory is like expecting Novak Djokovic to win Wimbledon with a cellophane racquet.  

That said, you'd never have known that the Reds were so heavily depleted, we dominated Chelsea for 90 minutes and, were it not for circumstance, one or two questionable decisions and Eden Hazard's moment of brilliance, we'd be sitting here toasting a seventh victory on the spin. 

This defeat may have ended our recent winning streak but we once again produced compelling evidence that we are now a very different proposition from the side that struggled, even though the results were coming, earlier in the season.

The fact that we've gone to the champions, played the best that we have all season and still feel gutted at a 1-0 defeat shows how far we have come in a few short months. 

This game showed exactly why Mourinho's team are going to be champions. 
Resilient, defensively strong, physical and compact, everything you'd expect from a Jose team, but when it came to style of football, only one team turned up on Sunday and their shirts were Red.

Without Carrick,  Rooney was pushed into midfield and although he frequently looked a danger with his vision and range of passing, it left United lightweight up top, and, with Falcao dropping deep to receive the ball, Chelsea's defensive strength snuffed out any half-decent service to the Colombian.

I thought United were immense out there on Sunday- we had 70% possession, had more shots than them, looked likelier to score all game and were only undone by one moment of combined magic from Oscar and Eden Hazard.
Quite frankly, we battered Chelsea and, despite the result I could not be prouder of the side. 

Come on you Reds!