A Phil Jones own goal, courtesy an assist from Juan Mata, gave Chelsea a precious 1-0 victory over Manchester United in their English Premier League game at Old Trafford.
In a game, which was rather uninspiring for the first 85 minutes, the game sprung to life when Mata saw his scuffed shot deflect off Jones and into the net with three minutes remaining, before United's evening was compounded by the sending off of Rafael for a kick out on David Luiz.
Chelsea climbed back up to third with the win on 68 points, one more than Arsenal, who have played a game more, and three ahead of Tottenham, whom they meet in a crucial encounter Wednesday.
Sir Alex Ferguson made several changes, with quite of few of the fringe players getting a chance to shine, as the likes of Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand and Michael Carrick were left out.
Chelsea started the brighter, and the excellent Juan Mata nearly found Demba Ba, but the cross from the right was just a little behind the striker, who had ghosted into the box and was primed for a free header.
Oscar then nearly opened the scoring, with United allowing the little Brazilian to run through the middle, before Anders Lindegaard, in for David De Gea, saved his shot onto the post.
This United side had a completely different feel to the one that played at the Emirates last weekend against Arsenal. There was more of an end of the season and nothing-to-play-for feel to the side as Chelsea were rarely put under pressure while on the ball.
Of course, United were motivated to perform against Arsenal last weekend mainly due to the fact that Van Persie was playing against his former club.
This time the pressure was most definitely off, which also brought about some decent forward play, albeit without any real intensity or urgency.
Van Persie had the first real chance for United. Tom Cleverly played in the Dutchman with a clever little pass, but Van Persie's preference to switch the ball onto the left foot allowed the Chelsea players to crowd him out with David Luiz making the final block.
Cleverly then fired a shot high and wide, before a brilliant pass from Giggs found Van Persie, but the Dutchman's shot went just wide.
Van Persie was in the thick of things now, and the former Arsenal striker had the perfect opportunity to open the scoring, but his header off a Nemanja Vidic cross went straight at Petr Cech as both sides went into halftime goalless.
There was a little more urgency to the game in the second 45, with Chelsea feeling a little aggrieved right at the beginning. Luiz went down inside the penalty area, with the Blues claiming a tug from Giggs, but referee Howard Webb was unmoved, even though the infringement had happened just outside the box anyway.
Lampard then blazed over off a pass from Mata, before the latter struck a freekick straight into the wall. Ferguson brought on Rooney and Alexander Buttner for Cleverley and Anderson, but United just did not look like finding a way through.
Rafael came closest, when some nice work down the United right saw the right-back find space inside the box, but his cross was deflected onto the side netting by Branislav Ivanovic.
The goal came in the 86th minute, and expectedly from Chelsea's best player this season. Some good play from Ramires led to the ball being passed to Oscar, who then found Mata in the inside left channel. The Spaniard took a shot with his favorite left foot, with the ball sneaking beyond the fingertips of Lindegaard, off a slight deflection from Phil Jones.
The night went from bad to worse for United, as Rafael was sent off for a petulant, but rather harmless kick out on Luiz, with Chelsea seeing off the final minutes to go home with a vital three points.
Earlier, Liverpool and Everton played out a goalless draw at Anfield in a rather drab and boring Merseyside Derby. The result keeps Everton in sixth, five points clear of Liverpool, with two games to play.
