Chelsea have won the 2018 FA Cup with a 1-0 win over Manchester United at Wembley Stadium today.
Eden Hazard’s penalty midway through the first half was the only difference between the two clubs after a rash challenge from Phil Jones who had let the forward get behind him from a through ball.
We had the majority of possession and territory in the second half but failed to put the ball in the back of the net aside from Alexis Sanchez having an effort disallowed for offside.
Here are how our players fared:
David de Gea 8 – Made a couple of good saves but dived the wrong way on Eden Hazard’s penalty.
Antonio Valencia 7 – Made some good tackles and interceptions, forced to foul Eden Hazard more than once. Antonio Valencia got forward down the right but wasn’t hugely creative in the final third.
Phil Jones 5 – Solely responsible for Chelsea’s goal, Phil Jones got caught ball watching and then lunged in on the Belgian playmaker to concede the penalty from which the West London club won the 2018 FA Cup.
Chris Smalling 7 – Decent performance from our other centre-back as Chris Smalling won his aerial battles, made a few successful tackles and blocks too. Olivier Giroud didn’t have a single shot all game.
Ashley Young 6 – Defended well up against Victor Moses and often found space going forward down the left. However, Ashley Young’s crosses were woeful today.
Nemanja Matic 6 – Didn’t have as much possession as usual and wasn’t as influential in the game as Nemanja Matic has often been this season. Forced a save from Thibaut Courtois with a low, stinging 30-yard drive in the second half.
Ander Herrera 6 – Generally did a very good job in keeping Eden Hazard quiet but wasn’t anywhere to be seen when the Chelsea forward won a first half penalty. Saw a lot of the ball, particularly in the second half when Jose sent us further forward.
Paul Pogba 5 – Not a huge influence on the game and missed a free header from a corner in the middle of the six-yard box in the final 10 minutes. Didn’t test the Chelsea goalkeeper once with any of his three efforts.
Jesse Lingard 5 – Saw a bit of the ball but it was mostly short-range passes from the Englishman before being substituted in the final 20 minutes.
Marcus Rashford 6 – Forced two saves from Thibaut Courtois and did see a fair bit of the ball but Marcus Rashford was too often wide of the box instead of being in it when we needed someone to aim for in the middle.
Alexis Sanchez 6 – Created a couple of chances but didn’t test the opposition goalkeeper himself.
Substitutes
Romelu Lukaku (19 mins) N/A – Got less than 20 minutes after returning from his ankle injury and barely touched the ball let alone taking a shot.
Anthony Martial (19 mins) N/A – Saw a fair bit of the ball after a late introduction but Anthony Martial’s shot on target didn’t cause Thibaut Courtois any problems.
Juan Mata (5 mins) N/A – Brought on too late to make any impact.
