Chelsea won the FA Cup thanks to Eden Hazard’s coolly taken first-half penalty. Here’s how we rated each Blues player in the at 1-0 win over Manchester United at Wembley.
He had very little to do until the second half when he made a vital punch clear from a dangerous inswinging free-kick and then two vital saves from Marcus Rashford. The first from a low strike was decent, the second when one on one, was outstanding.
Steadily excellent in a typically understated way, the Spaniard didn’t put a foot wrong on an afternoon that he would have expected to be more demanding. He really came to the fore in the latter stages. when the pressure was on.
Chelsea’s captain fully justified the decision to play him, and his big-game experience was vital. Cahill adopted a safety-first approach with the ball, organised those around him and never lost his shape.
A truly wonderful showing by the German, who further cemented his ever-growing cult-status with another imposing display, full of power, controlled aggression and some smart positional play.
He covered a stupendous amount of ground often and still made an impact in both areas. Ashley Young got the better of him on occasions but it was down to having to push on and being left exposed rather than poor defensive work.
Another majestic midfield performance. Faultless in commitment and almost flawless in quality. His surge forward and pass to Alonso should have led to a clinching second goal.
He is markedly improved when he has less defensive responsibility and played a big part in a huge team effort. At times Bakayoko still made some odd decisions with the ball but can be forgiven for a performance that had way more positives than negatives. He was sharper, played with freedom and could easily have won a first-half penalty when he was felled in the box by Nemanja Matic‘s clumsy tackle
He dictated Chelsea’s play in the first half, dropping deep, drifting from left to right and continually taking up intelligent positions. Fabregas was less effective in the second half as United upped the tempo and denied him anywhere near as much space but his work-rate remained impressive and he barely gave the ball away all evening.
Like Moses he ran relentlessly. Alonso was excellent in possession, used the ball sensibly throughout but should have scored from Kante’s pass.
The matchwinner and standout attacking player on the pitch, Hazard made countless brilliant runs off Olivier Giroud, ran from deep, held up play and still did his defensive duties. His penalty was coolness personified.
Didn’t get the chance to add to his goal tally, but occupied the United defence throughout, winning more than his fair percentage of headers and ran himself ragged.
This post was last modified on 26/05/2018