Former Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku scored and then created the winning goal against his old team at Old Trafford on Sunday.
The win put United back in second place in the Premier League, still 13 points behind neighbour Manchester City, while Chelsea drops below Tottenham into fifth place.
Chelsea was the brighter team early on and Alvaro Morata, brought back into the side, volleyed against the bar after only four minutes.
The Londoners deserved the lead that Willian gave them after 31 minutes, taking Eden Hazard’s pass and beating David de Gea at his near post. As United improved, Lukaku belied his reputation for not scoring against the big clubs by equalising before halftime, then crossed perfectly for substitute Jesse Lingard to head the winner in the 75th minute.
Earlier, Harry Kane struck late to secure Tottenham Hotspur’s 1-0 victory at Crystal Palace that moved Mauricio Pochettino’s side into the top four immediately ahead of Chelsea’s visit to Manchester United.
Spurs appeared set for disappointment after struggling to break down a Crystal Palace fighting to move clear of the relegation places.
But Kane finally found the breakthrough on 88 minutes, meeting Christian Eriksen’s corner at the far post and directing a header past goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey.
The results: Premier League: Crystal Palace 0 lost to Tottenham 1 (Kane 88), Manchester United 2 (Lukaku 39, Lingard 75) bt Chelsea 1 (Willian 32).
Saturday: Watford 1 (Deeney 79) bt Everton 0.
La Liga: Villarreal 1 (Unal 3) bt Getafe 0.
Saturday: Leganes 0 drew with Las Palmas 0; Barcelona 6 (Suarez 5, 44, 76, Messi 30, 36, Coutinho 66) bt Girona 1 (Portu 3).
Serie A: Crotone 2 (Budimir 49, 86) lost to SPAL 3 (Antenucci 37, Simic 51, Paloschi 60); Sassuolo 0 lost to Lazio 3 (Milinkovic-Savic 7, 46, Immobile 31-pen); Fiorentina 1 (Biraghi 6) bt Chievo 0; Verona 2 (Valoti 12, 77) bt Torino 1 (Niang 49); Sampdoria 2 (Silvestre 35, Zapata 83) bt Udinese 1 (Silvestre 90+5-og).
Saturday: Bologna 2 (Destro 49, Faletti 72) bt Genoa 0; Inter Milan 2 (Skriniar 66, Ranocchia 69) bt Benevento 0.
Bundesliga: Bayer Leverkusen 0 lost to Schalke 04 2 (Burgstaller 11, Bentaleb 89-pen).
Saturday: Werder Bremen 1 (van Drongelen 86-og) bt Hamburg 0.