Chelsea v Manchester United: Taibi's troubles, Mourinho's debut and other memorable matches

Manchester United and Chelsea are the two dominant forces of the Premier League era in England.

Chelsea's five titles are the closest number to the 13 United amassed during Alex Ferguson's glorious reign, although the Red Devils have rarely had things all their own way at Stamford Bridge.

As Jose Mourinho prepares to make his latest return to his old stomping ground on Sunday, with Antonio Conte looking to rouse a response form a Chelsea side well-beaten by Roma in midweek, we cast our eye over some titanic tussles in west London.

 

Chelsea 5-0 Man United, October 1999

United enjoyed a great year in 1999, as they won the treble and went on to go 29 matches unbeaten. But that run came to a rather abrupt end in October.

It took Gus Poyet just 27 seconds to put Chelsea ahead, with Massimo Taibi in the United goal enduring something of a nightmare, and things only got worse.

Nicky Butt was shown a red card, before a Henning Berg own-goal, Chris Sutton, Poyet and Jody Morris left United on the end of a humiliating defeat.

That proved to be Taibi's final game in an ill-fated spell at the club.

 

Chelsea 1-0 Man United, August 2004

Memories of Mourinho hurtling down the Old Trafford touchline while in charge of Porto will still have been fresh when United travelled to Stamford Bridge for the Portuguese coach's first game in charge of Chelsea on the opening day of the 2004-05 season.

Eidur Gudjohnsen's early goal proved decisive, as he pounced on a Tim Howard mistake and Mourinho again got the better of United and Alex Ferguson.

That victory proved to be a sign of things to come, with Chelsea going on to win the title – their first since 1954-55.

Chelsea 3-3 Man United, February 2012

If there was one thing United made a habit of during Ferguson's tenure, it was scoring late goals.

In February 2012, a late goal not only salvaged a point for them, but it completed a remarkable comeback from 3-0 down.

Jonny Evans' own-goal was followed by efforts from Juan Mata and David Luiz just after the break, but a pair of Wayne Rooney penalties had United back in it with 21 minutes to go.

Javier Hernandez then headed in six minutes from time to clinch a commendable point.

Chelsea 4-0 Man United, October 2016

The last time these two met each other in the league at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea ran out comprehensive winners.

Mourinho's first return to Chelsea since joining United took only 30 seconds to start going wrong, as Pedro opened the scoring, and Gary Cahill slammed in a second from close range in the 21st minute.

The brilliant Eden Hazard and N'Golo Kante went on to score in the second half, giving Mourinho his heaviest Premier League loss in what was an embarrassing return to Stamford Bridge.