Romelu Lukaku put to bed his ‘flat-track bully’ tag in style as the Belgian starred in Manchester United’s 2-1 win over Chelsea at Old Trafford with the Red Devils digging deep to mount a comeback in a must-win clash to reclaim second spot in the Premier League table.

Paul Pogba started in midfield alongside Nemanja Matic and Scott McTominay as Jose Mourinho sought to get one over his bitter rival Antonio Conte and former employers Chelsea on Sunday.

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Anthony Martial and Alexis Sanchez gave former Chelsea man Lukaku company up top but despite starting all their big names, United struggled to find fluency in attack in the early stages.

The Red Devils were dominating possession, but Chelsea always looked likely to score and very nearly did when club-record signing Alvaro Morata’s first-time shot cannoned of the post.

Conte’s men weren’t to be denied for long, however, and it would be in-form winger Willian who would break the deadlock. 

The Brazilian started a rapid counter and played a smart one-two with Eden Hazard before firing a ferocious shot past David de Gea in the 32nd minute.

Chelsea’s joy was short-lived, however, as United struck back within seven minutes of going down. Sanchez was heavily involved in what was a scrappy equaliser, with Martial showing presence of mind to lay it off for Lukaku to finish from six yards as the teams went into the interval with the score.

The Blues arguably had been the better side in the first-half, but United upped the tempo post half-time and deservedly took the lead via super-sub Jesse Lingard 15 minutes from time.

After some good centre forward play by Lukaku on the edge of the box, the burly No.9 swung in an inviting cross for Lingard to head home past Thibaut Courtois to get the Old Trafford crowd off its feet.

Jose Mourinho sought to park the bus with little time left in the tie and while Chelsea threw everything at them, the Red Devils withstood the late pressure, although they were helped by an erroneous officiating. 

Morata was just onside when he beat compatriot de Gea with a smart finish from an acute angle but the linesman’s flag was up, much to the disbelief of the Chelsea bench.

As it stands, United are on 59 points from 28 games, two ahead of second-placed Liverpool while Tottenham Hotspur, who edged Crystal Palace 1-0 earlier on Sunday, are two points further back in fourth place.

There’s hope still for fifth-ranked Chelsea to come back into the top-four as they are just two points behind Spurs, but another loss to a direct rival will not have inspired much confidence in the club management as rumours of Antonio Conte’s departure continue to do the rounds.