Chelsea: Hazard penalty enough to win FA Cup over Man United

The FA Cup final concluded a great day in the United Kingdom. Hours after the royal wedding, Chelsea was able to hold off Manchester United for a trophy.

The one moment that changed the FA Cup final occurred after just 20 minutes. Eden Hazard made a deft touch to create space and run in on goal. Phil Jones foolishly tackled Hazard in the box for a penalty. A simple pass into the goal gave Chelsea their eighth FA Cup title and first in six years.

Jose Mourinho’s decisions were questionable once again. Mourinho sat Romelu Lukaku and Eric Bailly for Phil Jones and Alexis Sanchez at striker. Jones’ mistake ended up costing United big time and Sanchez had another sub-par performance in United red.

After the penalty, the Red Devils put on all the pressure and just couldn’t shoot anywhere away from Courtois. Almost all five of Man U’s shots on target were right at the Chelsea goalkeeper. Marcus Rashford made the biggest impact on offense between both teams.

Rashford made good forward runs and actually took shots on goal. It didn’t make sense that Mourinho took him out for Anthony Martial. Between the three starting forwards for Man United, they had six shots. Rashford had four of them.

A nice send-off for Conte?

Is this the last image we will have of Antonio Conte as Chelsea manager? It’s likely, but nothing has been confirmed. Chelsea needed this trophy more than Manchester United. The Blues were in a position where a loss could mean the loss of Conte and Eden Hazard. One FA Cup title doesn’t guarantee Conte and Hazard stay in London, but it certainly helps give them second thoughts.

This eighth FA Cup title for Chelsea ties them with Tottenham for the third most of all-time. It also is the fourth trophy Chelsea have earned in the last four seasons.

Next: Does Conte want out at Stamford Bridge?

Bottom line, United could have won this game. Chelsea changed tactics to the counter-attack and generated no offense after the penalty. The royal wedding turned out to be more fascinating and interesting than this FA Cup final. The match was a testament to Mourinho and Conte’s stubborn managerial styles.

For success next year, both these teams need some big changes. Mourinho must bolster his defensive options and Chelsea needs depth at midfield and at striker. If Conte walks, it will become a complicated summer at Stamford Bridge. The FA Cup trophy sweetens the mood but doesn’t mean 2017-18 was a successful year for Chelsea.