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:

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#1 Antonio Rudiger vs Marcus Rashford

Antonio Rudiger furthered his case to be a part of Chelsea's defensive backline in the future

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 vs Rashford - stats

Rudiger will, and should, remain a big part of the Blues' future, regardless of who takes charge at Stamford Bridge next season.

#2 N'Golo Kante vs Paul Pogba

N'golo Kante was the man of the match for his performance

In the battle of the French midfielders, it is no surprise that the one on the winning team came out on top.

Chelsea's player of the season gave the club yet another reason why he was nominated for the award, as he once again was all over the pitch. Every time Manchester United were in the vicinity of the Chelsea goal, Kante was also there - tackling, defending, running.

From the first minute right till the final whistle of the game, the former Leicester City player was involved in several important interceptions, robbing United of chances and sending his teammates back out on retaliating runs.

Paul Pogba did not have a bad game by any means, but this game summed up his season as a whole - a case of being so near yet so far. Pogba had an opportunity to equalise late in the game when he got a free header in the box, but he guided it just wide and with it, all of United's hope vanished.

Kante vs Pogba - stats

With people obsessed over whether Hazard and Courtois will stay at the club, what they don't understand is that Kante is even more integral to the team than the two aforementioned players. Chelsea cannot replace Hazard man for man, but they could modify their playing style to fit in different players. But take away Kante, and the whole system fails.

#3 Eden Hazard vs Ander Herrera

Eden Hazard en route to scoring his game-winning penalty

It was a throwback to Jose Mourinho's most famous tactic of last season when he employed Ander Herrera to man-mark Eden Hazard and ended up nullifying the threat of the Belgian. Only this time, it was not meant to be.

Hazard turned out to be the difference between the two sides as he scored the only goal of the match. Hazard slipped past the players marking him and ran dangerously into the box, prompting the centre back Jones to launch into a tackle.

Playing on the right side of a 4-man midfield diamond, Herrera had the most difficult job of the night. He received occasional support from Nemanja Matic but on a good night for Hazard, it was always going to be difficult to stay with him for the entire match.

Hazard vs Herrera - stats

After the game, Rudiger cheekily asked Hazard to extend his contract and stay with the club. The Chelsea fans will be hoping for that, and rightly so.