Chelsea 1-0 Manchester United match report: The Daily Mirror verdict

Carlo Ancelotti wore the look of a manager destined to win the Premier League after Chelsea struck a major blow in the battle for the title.

It was a look of relief after his team dug in and ground out yet another victory at Stamford Bridge when they barely deserved it.

Chelsea boss Ancelotti will know that his team were lucky as Manchester United certainly did not deserve to lose after a gritty, niggly battle of wills at Stamford Bridge.

United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is at his most dangerous when his team are written off and his patched-up line-up were hardly given a prayer yesterday.

But when you have Wayne Rooney in your team, you are never going to be lacking in passion, commitment and fight.

For 76 minutes yesterday, United looked the better team and Rooney ran himself into the ground while Darren Fletcher bossed the midfield.

But you can never, ever write off Chelsea. Under Ancelotti, Chelsea have also kept their never-say-die spirit and that is what in the end saw them chalk up an 11th straight home win.

Forget the rather jovial argument between John Terry and Nicolas Anelka as to who got the final touch on the winning header.

The most important thing was that someone did and generally Chelsea have always got the decisive touch when it has mattered this season.

It also takes them five points clear of second-placed Arsenal at the top of the Premier League and that, even in November and having played a game more, is a pretty daunting advantage.

But what is even more daunting is Chelsea’s ability to win when they are below their best and they certainly were that yesterday.

Ancelotti has won Serie A and Champions League titles with AC Milan and has that magical winning mentality which he has clearly passed on to this Chelsea team and results like yesterday will only strengthen their belief.

United were without their first choice central defensive partnership, Dimitar Berbatov and not given much hope of winning at Stamford Bridge.

But United were much the better team in the first half as Fletcher, Anderson and Michael Carrick ran the midfield while Deco looked lost and Frank Lampard was uncharacteristically subdued.

United’s sticking point was their failure to create enough clear cut chances. Their best before the break came when Fletcher’s terrific through ball released Ryan Giggs but the United veteran showed no composure and lobbed over the bar.

It is a rather depressing statement on Michael Owen’s future at Old Trafford that he does not get a game even when United are so depleted. And for all of United’s domination of possession, they created far too little and missed a finisher.

The game was strangely dull and lacking incident before the 58th minute when finally referee Martin Atkinson dished out a yellow card to Branislav Ivanovic for a late foul on Giggs.

But Michael Ballack inflamed things as he angrily accused Giggs of trying to get Ivanovic booked and, from then on, any hint of peace in our time was gone as tempers began to get frayed.

Finally, Ancelotti bucked the trend when - after the Chelsea crowd chanted his name over and over - he brought on Joe Cole for the ineffective Deco in the 64th minute.

Rooney, with all of his non-stop running and industry, finally forced Chelsea keeper Petr Cech into a brilliant 68th minute save with a curling, dipping shot.

Then things turned really nasty. Jonny Evans lashed out with his foot as he leapt with Didier Drogba and, for once, the Chelsea striker looked hard done by. Drogba went down in agony and got booked for play-acting.

Sadly, Drogba was the little boy who cried wolf and this time, in the 74th minute, he was clearly wronged.

But two minutes later, Chelsea got the all-important winner. Fletcher fouled Ashley Cole and Lampard, coming back to life, swung in a brilliant free kick and Terry and Anelka both rose as the Chelsea captain nodded past Edwin van Der Sar.

United were incensed, claiming Drogba was in an offside position, affecting van Der Sar’s view, and Rooney was booked for his protests.

Tempers then boiled over even more as Ricardo Carvalho and Evans got booked for an ugly clash which nearly sparked a mass brawl. Then Fletcher showed his ugly side as he tried to get Carvalho booked again and sent off for a foul.

It was an ugly, nasty way to finish the game. But then it perhaps showed United’s frustrations and summed up a game which Chelsea won on a battle of wills rather than through quality.