3 things Chelsea did right in their 1-0 win against Manchester United
Scoreline: Chelsea 1-0 Manchester United (Hazard 22' P)
Chelsea did barely enough to get past Manchester United and win the FA Cup at Wembley. In what has been a torrid season, Antonio Conte finally gets something to cheer about but it was not easy, not for one second.
Chelsea had to defend out of their depths to keep United at bay as they kept trying and trying to no avail.
Without further ado, let's take a look at the 3 things Chelsea got right on the day:
#3 Defending deeply and narrowly
It was as pragmatic as pragmatic football gets but it didn't come from Jose Mourinho's side. It was Conte who set his team up to defended deep in their halves and soak up the pressure. The sponge tactics worked as United failed to break them down but it was not for a lack of trying.
The tactic worked well because Manchester United were without Chelsea and United were without rubber to bounce off in the final third.
As a result, Sanchez, Rashford and Lingard kept running into cul-de-sacs or weren't afforded enough room to get some good shots away.
But when United did get a couple of gilt-edged chances, like Rashford's faint swipe at the end of the first half at the end of a surging Pogba run or Pogba's poor header off Martial's corner when he was unmarked, they botched it themselves.
Chelsea sat back and the plan worked for them. Not a lot worked for them on the day but the defensive tactics definitely helped.