Chelsea 1, Manchester United 0

GIVEN that Jose Mourinho started the week searching for a missing mongrel, it was fitting that the Chelsea manager should end it having reclaimed his place as English football's top dog.

Saturday's dramatic FA Cup final victory over Manchester United might not have atoned for the loss of the Premiership title earlier this month, but as the opening of the new Wembley stadium signalled the start of a new era for the English game, Mourinho's Chelsea side provided a timely reminder of the enduring qualities of their own dynasty.

Written off as a side on the wane following a season that has been blighted by internal dispute, the deposed champions rediscovered their strength and application to edge an end-of-season finale that failed to live up to its billing.

And there at the heart of it all stood their mercurial Portuguese manager, loved and loathed in equal measure, but utterly impossible to ignore.

Clambering up the royal steps in the wake of Didier Drogba's extra-time winner, Mourinho's six-fingered salute smacked of both valediction and vitriol.

Six trophies in the space of three short seasons - two league titles, two Carling Cups, a Community Shield and now an FA Cup to complete the set of domestic honours - is a remarkable achievement. Most remarkable of all, though, is the fact that even that might not be enough to sate the ravenous appetite of Mourinho's employers at Stamford Bridge.

Such are the stakes in the new oligarchic world of English football, but if Saturday's victory is to mark the beginning of the end for the Chelsea manager's strained relationship with the club's billionaire owner Roman Abramovich, his players at least ensured that his legacy will tower over whoever eventually succeeds him on the King's Road.

Manchester United might have created a duopoly at the top of the Premiership this season but, when it comes to sheer weight of success, Chelsea remain the side at the top of the standings.

"We have dominated the domestic competitions in the last three years," said Mourinho, mindful no doubt of Sir Alex Ferguson's pre-match assertion that the footballing sands had shifted following his own side's title victory.

"Manchester United are the champions now and Liverpool and Arsenal have won one trophy each in the last three years but, domestically, it has all been about Chelsea."

Indeed, watching the likes of John Terry and Michael Essien successfully shackle a Manchester United side who had previously swept all before them, it was impossible not to wonder if it might not have been about Chelsea in the Premiership had events not conspired differently.

Newcastle United supporters understand the futility of complaining about the length of an injury list, and a signing policy that prioritised the purchase of the ineffective Michael Ballack and Andriy Shevchenko above the acquisition of a much-needed centre-half undoubtedly contributed to the mid-season malaise that saw the London club drop points to Reading and Fulham in successive home matches.

But had Petr Cech and John Terry - arguably Chelsea's most important players given their obdurate, grinding playing style - not been absent for three months at a time, Mourinho's side would certainly have been closer to Manchester United than the six points that eventually separated them at the head of affairs.

There did not look to be two wins between the sides on Saturday as a mixture of tactical conservatism and old-fashioned fatigue contributed to a stultifying spectacle that was salvaged by the beauty of Drogba's winner.

And with the addition of three summer recruits, Mourinho is confident that Chelsea's fourth FA Cup success can be a precursor to a reclamation of their Premiership crown.