As United's injured talisman looked on from his executive box, Chelsea took the points courtesy of a majestic first-half performance in a potential title decider.
Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti left top-scorer Didier Drogba on the bench, but it was Florent Malouda who produced the sparkling performance which tilted the game in the Londoners' favour.
It was Malouda who made Chelsea's first goal in the 20th minute.
Malouda beat off a tackle form Antonio Valencia on the left and as he cut in to the United box, brushed off a second challenge by Darren Fletcher.
His cross found Joe Cole three yards out at the near post and, even with Patrice Evra behind him, his audacious back-flick beat the Frenchman and United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar with the ball going in at the far post.
In a first half of few chances, both United and Chelsea had legitimate appeals for penalties turned down by referee Mike Dean.
In the 26th minute, Ji-Sung Park was impeded by Yuri Zhirkov just inside the Chelsea box but Mr Dean waved play on.
Four minutes later, Gary Neville barged over Nicolas Anelka in the united penalty area but Dean again allowed play to go on.
United came back into the game after the interval, although their constant pressure was repelled by Chelsea defenders with goalkeeper Petr Cech rarely troubled.
Drogba finally came off the bench with 20 minutes to go and Chelsea's leading marksman scored eight minutes later.
Fellow substitute Salomon Kalou picked out Drogba just outside the penalty area and although he was at least a yard offside, Mr Dean allowed him to go on and bury the ball right footed into the roof of the net from 12 yards on the right side of the box.
United had brought on substitutes Nani and Federico Macheda in the 72nd minute and both men combined to put the Red Devils back into the game six minutes later.
Nani's cross from the left side of the box was only parried by Cech and fell to Macheda and the ball went back into the net off a combination of chest and arm.
But United could not produce one of their trademark finishes to find an equaliser as the title pendulum swung firmly back towards Chelsea.