They came to bury Claudio Ranieri not to praise him but this new Roman in Britain left Old Trafford stunned as his team fought back bravely and departed into the afternoon sunshine with an unexpected but potentially morale-lifting point. Perhaps this Caesar is the one to put an end to the back-stabbing at Chelsea.
There was certainly backbone this time to a flash, brash outfit often so slick at home to such as West Ham and so vulnerable at Bradford City. The renewed heart was personified by Graeme Le Saux, still feeling his way back after long-term injury and vilified in the defeat by Leicester City last Sunday but a diminutive colossus yesterday, leading by example after being made captain by Ranieri, 'because he's English'.
It was one shrewd move by Ranieri. The other came at half time when he withdrew Jon Harley, promising but lightweight, and put Mario Melchiot in to stiffen a previously overrun midfield and to curtail the damage that the evergreen Teddy Sheringham was doing from his withdrawn striking position behind Andy Cole. We will let it pass that Sheringham's role has been well-known to the English game for the last five years.
After the Leicester defeat Ranieri's first task, he said after yesterday's match, was 'to bring back confidence to a team which had gone through traumatic times and try to convince them they were a good enough team to get results'. The response seemed immediate, in Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink's well-directed strike.
For we of lesser faith, Scotland v Brazil in 1982 sprang to mind, the Scots making their first mistake in taking the lead similarly spectacularly to stir the Brazilians into a 4-1 win. Duly, for 30 minutes United were stung into their familiar industrious and flowing football, the ball transferred thrillingly at pace; control instant, finishing certain, Christian Panucci swamped by Ryan Giggs's runs.
We thought the real United had stood up; the real Chelsea had lain down. In United's second goal was it especially evident. Coaches yell 'no bounce' at schoolboys when defending a high ball, so they will attack and clear it to avoid the panic the bouncing ball can create. Chelsea allowed David Beckham's chipped ball forward to bounce no fewer than three times before it was drilled home by Sheringham. It will have gone into Ranieri's jumbo-sized notebook.
Raimond van der Gouw's error let in Tore Andre Flo's header, another triumph for Ranieri's tactics, Flo lining up wide on the right to exploit the weak link of Mikael Silvestre by cutting inside the full-back to meet a cross. Sir Alex Ferguson pinpointed it as the turning point, his dressing room subdued at the interval, the visitors' buoyant. Inside it, Ranieri told his team that he wanted to see 'the same spirit as Manchester United'.
He got it - Gianfranco Zola even cleared from right back.
Actually there was another turning point, Le Saux scooping Cole's shot athletically off the line. Within minutes he was at the byline at the other end to cross for Chelsea's equaliser, his third goal creation. It was significant that he went past David Beckham to do so. There can be no higher praise than that he eclipsed the man he was marking for most of the match. If we were surprised, Sir Alex wasn't. 'With their record against us and under a new coach, I thought they would be pumped up.'
There are two flaws with United sometimes. Without Jaap Stam, their air of defensive invulnerability disappears. In addition, the Premiership can seem to easy to them. Boredom and complacency can seep in when they lead comfortably. Chelsea were fortunate on both counts yesterday. Reality should intrude.
For all their heartening efforts, it remains only a point and they remain this year's 'big team in crisis' traditional at this time of the season. Ken Bates and his club will discover over the coming weeks the truth or otherwise of Shakespeare's other observation in Julius Caesar that 'the evil that men do lives after them'.
