Chelsea won a hard-fought point at Old Trafford tonight as the league leaders kept champions Manchester United at bay.
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho ditched recognised strikers Fernando Torres and Romelu Lukaku, electing to start the game without a front man.
He utilised German Andre Schurrle as the fulcrum to any Chelsea attack and relied on the mobility of the creative players such as Eden Hazard, Oscar and Kevin De Bruyne, to supply the forward respite whenever Schurrle wavered.
It was a brilliant tactic, and one that could have gone horribly wrong.
But Mourinho is a master at the unpredictability and he outfoxed his counterpart David Moyes with his set up.
Moyes has never won at Old Trafford and that continued as the new United boss took control of his charges for the first time at home
Mourinho by contrast has won three times.
With so much attention focussing on Wayne Rooney, the England man did not disappoint.
He showed class and guile. He passed his trial for Chelsea with flying colours.
The game started off with extraordinary pace, every pass seemingly laden with added significance, especially whenever Wayne Rooney touched the ball.
Having both sets of fans chanting for Wayne Rooney, seemed a tad bizarre to be honest.
As for the game, it somewhat predictably settled down to a gentler pace with United holding the greater possession, with Chelsea seeking to break quickly with German Andre Schurrle, the so-called false no 9, the focus of the Blues breakaways.
It was almost the perfect gameplay for Jose Mourinho, as on 10 minutes, Kevin De Bruyne, on the right forced a poor clearance by Rio Ferdinand to the edge of the United penalty area. Oscar followed up with a rasper of a right-footer but David De Gea was equal to the shot and grasped it confidently.
Chelsea next effort on 17 minutes started with a fine piece of controlled play by the visitors but ended with Branislav Ivanovic blasting a needless 25-yarder high over De Gea's crossbar.
Again, another sparkling attack by Chelsea on 22 minutes resulted in a bit of a panic with the end product, this time from Oscar who toe-poked his shot on goal.
United fans thought they had scored a minutes later when Robin Can Persie inched a powerful left-footer drive from an acute angle on the left. Cech probably would not have got to it in time, and was thankful to see the ball end up in the side-netting.
The Dutchman then headed over from a Patrice Evra deep left-wing cross, as United found greater traction in the game, forcing the Blues ever deeper into their final thirdly net had a toe-poker of his on on 29 minutes but his effort just trickled to Cech.
The first yellow card of the night went to De Bruyne who fouled Van Persie but also got a cut lip for the effort on 32 minutes.
A loose clearing by John Terry seven minutes before the break, saw Tom Cleverley free on the edge of Chelsea penalty area. He, like Ivanovic before him, panicked and zipped the ball over Cech crossbar.
Five minutes later and Oscar punched a low drive through the United rearguard,
However, it wasn't sufficiently powerful to trouble De Gea.
There was no changes from either side at half-time.
But the early second-half a tion was a carbon CIO of the first, Chelsea deep and then counter-attacking, United, a tad more positive and playing the more intricate passing football, most of which emanating from the right boot of Rooney.
Danny Welbeck got in on the kick the ball over the crossbar competition nine minutes in.
But he really should have at least put the ball on target as a Rooney-inspired attack saw the England striker inside the Chesea area, but he scooped the ball, yep, high and wide.
Surprisingly the best shot on target came from the right peg of Chelsea centre-back Gary Cahill, who bulleted a blaster
With De Bruyne and in particular Schurrle tiring, it was inevitable that a change would be made by Mourinho, and on the hour, Fernando Torres entered the fray at the expense of De Bruyne.
Schurrle moved to the right to accommodate the Spain striker.
A shout for a penalty two minutes later from the 75, 032 crowd was dismissed by referee Martin Atkinson, as he waved away the appeals which they claimed saw Frank Lampard handle the ball from Cleverley shot in the Chelsea area.
Rooney, perhaps determined to show his full range of abilities, pitched an awkward shot on target, but Cech was its equal.
David Moyes, playing his first game at home as United boss, decided that Valencia had run out of steam and introduced Ashley Young on 67 minutes.
Atkinson had a tough decision to make on 72 minutes when the left-back Ashley Cole, received a fine one-two with Eden Hazard, raced into the United area and fell under the challenge of Phil Jones. Cole thought he was upended, Atkinson though differently and played on.
Rooney on 76 minutes unleashed a proper strike on goal, forcing Cech into a desperate lunge to his right, to concede a corner.
Veteran Ryan Giggs replaced Welbeck with 12 minutes left on the clock.
John Obi Mikel was brought on by Mourinho with five minutes to go, suggesting that he wanted to shore up the midfield and protect a hard-fought for point.
The man to come off was Schurrle.
A double attempt by Van Persie and Evra threatened that point, but the first shot was blocked and the second effort was wayward of goal.
With three minutes of added time announced over the PA system, Mourinho made his final change, bringing on speedy right-back Cesar Azpilicueta for Hazard.
It was all that was needed to run the clock down, take home the point and stay top of the league.
Teams
Chelsea : Cech, Ivanovic, Cole, Ramires, Lamprd, Oscar, Schurrle, De Bruyne, Hazard, Cahill, Terry
Subs: Essien Torres, Mata, Mikel, Lukaku, Schwarrzer, Azpilicueta
Man Utd: De Gea, Evera, Jones, Ferdinand, Rooney, Vidic, Carrick, Welbeck, Van Persie, Cleverley, Valencia
Subs: Anderson, Giggs, Smalling, Lindergard, Young, Kagawa, Buttner
Ends