Manchester United took on Chelsea in the FA Cup final at the Wembley Stadium looking to salvage some silverware out of their slightly disappointing season. The Red Devils opted for a 4-1-2-1-2 formation and struggled to find a strong foothold in the game during the first half. They conceded a cheap penalty in the 22nd minute which Eden Hazard converted with ease. The Blues defended well to go into half-time with a one-goal advantage.
Jose Mourinho’s men came out strong in the second half and started to dominate the ball more in the opposition half. However, the men from Manchester failed to break down the stern Chelsea defence and ended up losing the final with a 1-0 scoreline.
Let’s shed some light on how each Manchester United player performed during the contest against the Blues.
GK: David De Gea – 6.5/10
The Spanish keeper made some good saves early on but was beaten from the penalty spot by Eden Hazard during Chelsea’s opener.
RB: Antonio Valencia – 5.5/10
A rare off-day for the Ecuadorian full-back. He failed to make an impact in the opposition half which was one of the many reasons for United’s downfall.
CB: Chris Smalling – 5/10
The English centre-back struggled to cope with the physicality of Olivier Giroud and came out second best far too often.
CB: Phil Jones – 3/10
He gave away the penalty after a lazy tackle on Hazard in the first half which ultimately cost his team the FA Cup.
LB: Ashley Young – 6/10
He started off slow but put in a good performance after the half-time break. The Englishman made some incisive runs with the ball but his crosses hardly found its target.
CM: Ander Herrera – 6/10
His energy in the midfield was an asset for the Red Devils. The Spaniard retained the ball well but lacked the creativity to make a decisive pass behind the Blues backline.
CM: Nemanja Matic – 5/10
His movement was slow which limited him to cover less ground at the centre of the park. The Serbian midfielder was completely outshined by the Chelsea midfielders and had a difficult outing in a United shirt.
CM: Paul Pogba – 6/10
The Frenchman squandered some good opportunities to score. He was effective in the first half but was not able to keep up the same level of performance after the half-time break.
CAM: Jesse Lingard – 5/10
He found it hard to test the Chelsea goalkeeper and was deservedly substituted in the second half.
ST: Marcus Rashford – 5/10
He missed a golden chance to equalise and was mostly left as a frustrated figure in the Chelsea box.
ST: Alexis Sánchez – 4/10
The Chilean forward had a day to forget after failing to provide a spark for United in the final third. Most of his efforts were wasteful which summed up a sorry outing for the Reds of Manchester.
Substitutes:
ST: Romelu Lukaku – 6/10
The Belgian came off the bench to add another dimension to Mourinho’s attack.
LM: Anthony Martial – 6/10
He tried to change the game after coming on. The French ace chose to take some Chelsea defenders on in an effort to find an equaliser. However, he ran out of time as Chelsea edged the contest by the odd goal.
CAM: Juan Mata – N/A
He came on for the final few minutes of the contest and didn’t have much time to make an impact.
