HAZARD LIGHTS IT UP FA Cup Final

Hazard penalty is enough to deny Reds 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 had 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. 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 the club, 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, not considered fully over 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.

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. Now it was a straight race between Hazard and Jones. Clearly, that was no real contest.

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 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 viewers were apparently confused, experiencing this rule for the first time this season. Among them was Conte, who seemed to think a red card should be awarded and made his point 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.

This was a first-half performance much more akin to the 16-17 season. Marcos Alonso and Victor Moses were flying back and forth down the wings. 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 co-ordination. 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 Pogba shot wide 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. 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 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. But Chelsea were retreating, happy to sit deep and concede possession, seemingly confident in their ability to spring a surprise on the counter.

United thought they had broken through in the 62nd minute, with Rashford’s free-kick being headed in by Jones. Courtois parried and Sanchez slid to turn the ball in. But he had advanced from an offside position. The assistant referee saw it and the video referee confirmed it.

Yet there was that ever-present threat of the Chelsea breakaway which could finish the game. It seemed the moment had come in the 70th minute, Kante striding towards goal and feeding Alonso. The wingback allowed the ball to run on to his right foot to get a better angle, yet in that crucial delay he lost all element of surprise and De Gea blocked.

Still, United were not safe. From the corner, Moses crossed and the ball struck the arm of Young. Again, video referee Neil Swarbrick was called upon. He clearly concluded Young’s arm was in a natural position and the ball had struck him too quickly and from such close range that it would have been impossible to move. As such, no penalty was awarded.

Two minutes later, Rashford was denied by Courtois as United rallied. Lukaku was not decisive but Pogba should have done better. In the 81st minute, a corner swung in and given a free header to level, he directed the ball wide.