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Hazard penalty is enough to deny United and win the FA Cup for Chelsea as...
SO Antonio Conte looks like he will depart Chelsea in the manner in which he arrived: upstaging Jose Mourinho. The two rivals, recently bitter enemies, embraced at the end of a final notable more for its use of video technology than its illustrious football.
Yet its significance lay in the result. The man who picked up the mess Mourinho had left at Stamford Bridge and managed to regenerate the team into title winners, before falling victim to the same forces and political pressures that undone his predecessor, had one last parting shot to deliver.
In the battle of clubs with underwhelming seasons, Chelsea emerged the victor at Wembley yesterday. And a trophy can give even a mediocre campaign some meaning.
Chelsea and Conte have theirs. And if it is to be his last game with Chelsea, then he leaves with the same commendable record that his compatriot Carlo Ancelotti did, having won a Premier League title and an FA Cup over two seasons.
It is an impressive trophy tally, all the more so given that so much of this season had been spent fighting his own board.
As for United, so submissive was their first-half performance, that it only reopened all the existential questions of Mourinho’s reign.
That they have improved is undeniable. But just where they are heading is still unclear two years in. If they are a side constructed to win rather than entertain, that is at least an identity. But it does require a final victory. Ultimately, without that, it becomes meaningless.
An FA Cup and a third trophy in two seasons would have bolstered Mourinho’s manifesto. Defeat makes the case harder to argue and the 19-point gap at the top of the table trickier to explain.
United had started without Romelu Lukaku, evidently not considered fully recovered from his ankle injury. But that alone was not sufficient to explain their lack of focus and sheer lethargy in the opening exchanges. Neither team looked great but Chelsea at least looked primed to compete. United, by contrast, could not establish any foothold in the game.
Indeed, in the 22nd minute Cesc Fabregas, afforded the freedom of the midfield, played one of those lovely, raking passes inviting Eden Hazard to accelerate. However, it was not quite as good as Phil Jones made it look.
The United defender seemed to be in two minds and ended up on the back foot, allowing Hazard to sprint away without a challenge. Now it was a straight race between Hazard and Jones. Clearly, that was no real contest.
And as Hazard advanced ever closer to goal, you wondered whether the defender would stick or twist, whether he would have confidence in David De Gea to save the shot or feel he had to intervene. The moment he opted for the latter, you feared for United. Sure enough, the desperate challenge was committed yet clumsy, an open invitation to award a penalty.
It was, however, not a red card as, under this season’s rules, he had made a clear attempt to win the ball. It being FA Cup final day, many casual viewers were apparently confused, experiencing this rule for the first time this season. Among them was Conte, who also seemed to think a red card should be awarded and made his point forcefully to fourth official Lee Mason.
As for the penalty, De Gea had gone the wrong way and Hazard must have seen his movement very early, as he showed no fear in gently stroking the ball in, not even bothering to put it in the corner.
It was the breakthrough Chelsea needed. Though they have made a bad habit of conceding leads this season in a way they rarely did in their title-winning campaign, they are a side that can still function well with a lead to defend.
And this was a first-half performance much more akin to the 2016-17 season. Marcos Alonso and Victor Moses were flying back and forth down the wings with energy and resolve. N’Golo Kante was immense, patrolling midfield with the assiduousness that has now become customary.
Fabregas was a willing foil. More surprisingly there was Tiemoue Bakayoko, looking much more like the player who strode through the Champions League with Monaco: authoritative and robust.
As for United, it was pretty much as lame a first-half performance as they have had this season. There was no zest, no intensity and precious little coordination. Paul Pogba, Ander Herrera and Nemanja Matic could not get a grip on the midfield. Jesse Lingard was playing in behind Marcus Rashford and Alexis Sanchez, but all three were starved of possession.
A lone Pogba shot wide in the 30th minute and Jones’ header from Ashley Young’s cross on half-time was all they could muster.
There had to be a reaction. Whatever else, United could not surrender this meekly as they had in the first half. Evidently, Mourinho concurred and he sent his team out with fresh gusto.
It was tempting to query just why it had taken 45 minutes to get started but it was at least a step in the right direction. There was new energy about United, a crispness to their passing and a genuine danger, evidenced by Thibaut Courtois being called into action to block Rashford’s strike in the 57th minute.
On the break though, Hazard was still a pest, Valencia picking up a booking for hacking him down in full flow. But Chelsea were retreating, happy to sit deep and conceding possession, seemingly confident in their ability to spring a surprise on the counter. United thought they had broken through in