Jose Mourinho got the better of Antonio Conte at Old Trafford (Getty)

Jose Mourinho has explained the tactics that helped Manchester United comfortably beat Chelsea on Sunday.

Antonio Conte’s side have been virtually impenetrable this season, losing just twice in the Premier League since September.  However they were completely nullified at Old Trafford, failing even to have a single shot on target.

Mourinho’s tactics were behind Manchester United’s dominant display and after the match the Portuguese coach revealed precisely what he had set out to do.

‘I want to say I was convinced even before the cup [last month’s FA Cup tie between the sides] that controlling the two players that played behind Diego [Costa],’ said the former Chelsea manager.

‘Sometimes Hazard, sometimes Hazard-Pedro controlling the position of these two players, and controlling the full-backs because they go really deep with two wide men would create them lots of problems.

Conte and Mourinho on the touchline (Getty)

‘And I repeat the same: They are phenomenal in counter-attack, and when they have the ball it’s more difficult for them and when they have the ball we are compact and when they try to play counter-attack we were always in control of these link positions.

‘Diego is very dangerous but the two link positions are the two positions we have to control. We did that at Stamford Bridge when we played with 11, with 10 it was more difficult and today we control.’

Chelsea remaining fixtures

Sunderland (H) - Sun 21 May
Arsenal FA Cup (N) - Sat 27 May

The result, coupled with Tottenham’s win over Bournemouth on Saturday, saw Chelsea’s lead at the top of the Premier League table cut to just four points over the weekend.

Spurs will be hoping that Chelsea’s remaining opponents pay close attention to Mourinho’s blueprint.

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