Chelsea won
its second trophy under “serial winner” Antonio Conte as an Eden Hazard penalty
was enough to secure the FA Cup against Manchester United at Wembley Stadium.
The crucial
moment of the final came in a tepid first half as Chelsea's Eden Hazard made a
brilliant surge into the united penalty area and was crudely brought down by
England defender Phil Jones. Jones was perhaps lucky to escape with just a
yellow card, but Hazard got up to slot the penalty kick past David de Gea in
the 22nd minute for the only goal of the game.
United,
which left injured top scorer Romelu Lukaku on the bench, pushed hard for an equalizer
by dominating the second half, but could not find a way through. Thibaut
Courtois, recalled by Conte to play in goal after Willy Caballero had played
the other games in the cup run, kept United at bay with a string of fine saves,
the best from an attempted chip from Marcus Rashford as he rushed through on
goal. Alexis Sanchez had the ball in the net, but it was ruled out for offside
under the VAR system, while United's record signing Paul Pogba had the best
chance to level eight minutes from time, but headed wide from a corner.
It
is a season without a trophy for Mourinho and a very dull note on which to sign
off for the summer. Conte on the other hand has his second major English honour
and the eighth FA Cup of Chelsea’s history, lifting them above Liverpool on
seven to draw level with Tottenham Hotspur in third on the same total.
No comments:
Post a Comment