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It was the last ray of hope for either team as Manchester United and Chelsea battled for the FA Cup trophy at Wembley today.
It was a nervy affair from the minute go and Chelsea took the lead from the spot in the 22nd minute. Hazard was fouled inside the box by Phil Jones and the Belgian made no mistake to convert the penalty.
United dominated proceedings in the second half and Thibaut Courtois had to be at his best to stop United from finding the back of the Chelsea net. Mourinho rolled his dice and brought on Romelu Lukaku and Anthony Martial but despite the pressure, Chelsea managed to hold on to claim this year's FA Cup.
We look at 3 things that went wrong for Manchester United on the night:
#3 Slow transition
Of course, it was always going to be a cagey affair given the implications a defeat can have on both teams but there were times when United lacked the intensity, especially in the first half.
After taking the lead, for the remainder of the half, Chelsea were proving to be a tough nut to crack. They defended well and given the lack of aerial presence in the United forward line, Cahill and co. were able to get the better of them in aerial duels.
However, when Chelsea got forward, leaving behind spaces for United to exploit, they rarely dared to do so. Their defence to attack transition was slow for the most part of the game and this time allowed the Chelsea defenders to get back into their positions and deal with the treat.
The trend continued in the second half as well.
#2 Playing too narrow
Rashford started up front for United and was flanked by Sanchez and Lingard and the trio often interchanged positions at will throughout the match.
Both Sanchez and Lingard like to cut inside and play at close quarters and the Chelsea defenders had their work cut to a large extent as they could easily outnumber any United player inside the box.
Conte set his team out in a 5-3-2 formation when not having the ball as he always does and the United players were rarely given spaces in the inside channels to take advantage of. They were closed down quickly by one defender or the other and their only natural width came from the full backs who failed to put in decent deliveries.
They also lacked any runners behind the Chelsea defensive line and thus they could stay compact and solid instead of being feared of getting stretched out.
#1 Poor conversion
In a game of high stakes, it goes without saying that teams need to take full advantage of their openings. Chelsea made the most of their minimal chances but despite having the majority possession and almost 3 times as many shots, United failed to find the back of the net.
They were in complete control of the game in the second half as Chelsea were more than happy to sit back and hit United on the counter. Courtois had to make a couple of brilliant saves but the United players simply had to be more clinical.
All their domination failed to bear fruit in the end with Chelsea running out as winners and the story could've been very different if United had that extra bit of composure of ruthlessness in front of goal.
