Chelsea 1-0 Manchester United: 3 key battles that decided the game
In what might have been (but hopefully not) Antonio Conte's final game for Chelsea, the Italian experienced the good luck of being able to leave with a trophy in the form of the FA Cup, as Eden Hazard's penalty was enough to seal a win for the Blues.
It was not the most glamorous of finals, as both sides came with the intention of defending hard and stuck to their plans. Phil Jones' foul against Hazard resulted in a penalty which the Belgian calmly passed into the back of the net, and Chelsea out-Mourinhoed Mourinho for the rest of the game.
As usual, there were a few key battles that went a long way in deciding the final outcome of the match. Here's a look at 3 such battles that had a say in the game:
#1 Antonio Rudiger vs Marcus Rashford
With Manchester United's premier striker Romelu Lukaku still not fully fit to play the entirety of the match, it fell to Marcus Rashford to lead the line as the lone striker up top. But from the way things turned out, the youngster has a long way to go.
Rashford thrives with his runs into the box, darting in from the wings. But from the middle, he looked largely clueless and United not creating enough in the middle also didn't help his cause.
Antonio Rudiger has slowly become an integral part of the Chelsea defense this season, and his performance in this game was a testament to just why. The big German, called up to the World Cup provisional squad, displayed close to perfect defense as Chelsea shut out United.
His most important contribution of the game came when he blocked a short off Rashford, after a rare but impressive counter from United early on in the game, and one can only imagine how that would have changed things.
Rudiger will, and should, remain a big part of the Blues' future, regardless of who takes charge at Stamford Bridge next season.