Major talking points as Hazard’s penalty helps Chelsea defeat United to win FA Cup final

Chelsea beat Manchester United in a tense match at Wembley Stadium to win the FA Cup on Saturday. The Blues took the lead in the 22nd minute via an Eden Hazard penalty after Phil Jones fouled him in the area.

Jones had a chance to make amends but headed wide at the far post from Ashley Young’s left-wing cross, with United belatedly arriving as an attacking force in the closing minutes of the half.

After the game, a bitter Jose Mourinho told BBC Sport that his side deserved victory. He lamented the strategy, parking the bus, which Chelsea adopted throughout the game saying he would have gotten the stick if he had done the same.

“I congratulate them because they won but I don’t think they deserved to win.

“I congratulated them. I am Manchester United manager and I have to be respectful, not just because they are my previous club but because they are the opponents today but I think we deserved to win.

“I am quite curious to know what you say or what people write because if my team plays like Chelsea did I can imagine what people would say. I am quite curious.

“It was a bit hard for us to play without Lukaku against a team that defends with nine players. You need that presence. Every defeat hurts but I go home with the feeling we gave everything. No regrets.

“Chelsea are not stupid. They know our team without Lukaku or Fellaini does not have a presence so putting eight or nine players in front of the box they knew they would be dominant in that direct football. We tried everything by other ways but they had a huge block of compacted players.

“The image of the game is that David De Gea did not touch the ball. He touched the ball in the net,” he said.

Mourinho’s Mistake

At half-time, there was one question most United fans were probably asking: Why was Phil Jones playing ahead of Eric Bailly? The former Villarreal man has long been United’s most consistent defender when healthy, and analysts had a hard time understanding why he was on the bench Saturday.

Ryan Baldi was one of them:

Jones’ lack of pace saw him get beat by Hazard time after time in the first half, and the penalty was almost inevitable. Those are the kind of mistakes Bailly rarely makes, and it’s baffling that Jose Mourinho opted not to start him.

VAR Won’t Help If People Don’t Know the Laws

Referee Michael Oliver had a big call to make in the first half, as Jones brought down Hazard inside the box, denying the Belgian a clear scoring opportunity. BBC’s commentating team, as well as a number of fans and analysts, were furious when he didn’t produce a red card for the United man, a key decision in the match.

Of course, Oliver got his decision spot on, as explained by Gary Lineker:

Amid all of the discussions involving VAR and other forms of instant replay, perhaps fans and analysts alike should start by reading up on the laws of the game before they criticise the officials.

Rashford Gamble Fails

Jones wasn’t the only United man who stood out for the wrong reasons. Marcus Rashford was completely lost in the first half, as he got little service and did nothing with the chances he did get. He came close to scoring after the break, but goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois got in the way.

Fans were not impressed:

Mourinho has pushed him out wide often this year, and the England international no longer seems comfortable in the Romelu Lukaku role up top. It’s a shame, because that’s exactly where he shone when he first broke out for the Red Devils.

Bakayoko Gets the Last Laugh

Chelsea midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko was a constant target for criticism during his first season in London, after he missed his start to the campaign and struggled with health.

The former Monaco man has quietly been one of the club’s standout players the past few weeks, however, and things were no different at Wembley:

While Paul Pogba, one of his key opponents in midfield, was busy missing sitters and standing out for all the wrong reasons, Bakayoko was a constant nuisance near the ball. He’s positioned himself perfectly for a breakout campaign next season and deserves a ton of credit for the way he has bounced back of late.

United Need a Big Summer

Alexis Sanchez was barely involved. Rashford couldn’t replace Lukaku in the centre of attack. Pogba was uninspired, and there was no one to add a late dash of creativity or light a fire under the Frenchman when needed.

United have all the money in the world, but they have a ton of needs to address this summer. Between the left-back position, Mourinho’s distrust of Bailly, a lack of creativity and no good backup option for Lukaku, the Red Devils will once again have to invest heavily.

Additional analysis obtained from Bleacher