A game plan really could not have worked any better than the tactical master class turned in by Manchester United Jose Mourinho today. You know he was motivated! And that motivation only got stronger given the level of disrespect and humiliation that he felt he suffered at Chelsea in the first meeting between the two sides in late October.
Taunted by the fans as “Judas,” Mourinho responded to the Chelsea supporters with the “Judas is still #1” at the club retort.
Well, if he’s Judas, then this Easter Sunday saw Judas settling a score against his former club.
Which is exactly what Jose Mourinho has done his entire career. Although he accomplished oh so much in both of his tenures at Chelsea, the Portugese will still no doubt first recall the bitter way that things ended at Stamford Bridge, as the club sacked him in December of 2015.
It’s still fresh in his mind, as is the lopsided humiliation on the pitch when his new club visited his old club last autumn.
On that Sunday, his Chelsea successor Antonio Conte dominated the meeting of the minds. Today it was a reversal of fortune. Due to extreme workload from fixture congestion, Mourinho had to sit his admittedly tired star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
The team’s only true scoring threat this season was on the bench, giving United a starting XI with just 12 combined goals on the season. (second leading scorer Juan Mata is out for the season)
Chelsea striker Diego Costa has 17 braces all by himself. However, Mourinho was the man with the plan, and his tactics and methods triumphed. Marcos Rojo neutralized Costa. Ander Herrera and Marcus Rashford gave man of the match level performances.
Thus, Mourinho got his first real signature win as United Manager. Sure, he already won the EFL Cup title, becoming the first United boss to win a title during his debut season at Old Trafford.
This was much much bigger though.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times and NBC Chicago.com, contributes to Chicago Tribune.com, Bold, WGN CLTV and KOZN.
Follow him on Twitter, Instagram, Sound Cloud, LinkedIn and YouTube