The scoreline told the story: these are two clubs going in very different directions now.
Whether Ole Gunnar Solskjaer ends up a permanent fixture at Manchester United, he has done what he was employed to do in December. He has turned this ship around, United are in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, the top four in the Premier League and on course to be in the Champions League next season.
They will do this, it seems, at the expense of Chelsea – a club that has lost its way under Maurizio Sarri, and that United deservedly dumped out of the FA Cup on Monday night, just as they have evicted them from the Champions League places.