Chelsea beat Manchester United 1-0
A penalty from Belgium International Eden Hazard, at the 22nd minute, was enough to beat down the Red Devils at Wembley Stadium. Manchester United dominated the ball but was unable to break the deadlock as Chelsea held on to the small advantage.
The Blues won their 8th Fa Cup (tied for the 3rd most in England) and after winning the Premier League title, coach Conte leaves the club on a high note.
For Mourinho and his men, this season came as a disappointment with no trophy lifted and an early elimination in the Champions League. They did had a good campaign in the League finish second behind the untouchable leaders of Manchester City.
Coach Chelsea, Conte rejoices the trophy win:
“I’m very satisfied because today it was very difficult to win the FA Cup against a really great team like Man United so we must be pleased. It wasn’t easy but I’m very happy for our fans and my players. They deserve this win, to win an important trophy in a season which was very difficult for many reasons.
At the start of the season I predicted the difficulty but despite this we finished fifth, won the FA Cup and lost in the semi-final of the League Cup. To miss out on a place in the Champions League is not good for a club like Chelsea and we must be honest to say that, myself and the players, and fifth was the position we deserved. But to finish in this way and to win an important trophy showed great commitment and desire from my players.
For sure when you are used to winning every season, this type of season can create some problems in yourself because when you have this type of season there are moments when you have a lot of questions for yourself. But also in a difficult season I showed I am a serial winner and this is the proof. To win in this way has given me more satisfaction than my wins in the past.
I have great respect for my club and for sure they will make the best decision. I’m the first to accept any decision for the future because after these two seasons I will always love this colour, this club and the fans if my future is in a different way.
I think that after two years the club know me very well. If they want to continue to work with me they know me. I can’t change. My way is always the same; hard work and to build a strong identity with my players, I can’t change. I’m like this. My past speaks very clear as a player and manager.
You can say what you want but I’m a serial winner, I’ve shown that in England last year, after a difficult 10th-place finish, and I showed it today because we found the right way to lift this trophy. I’m very happy for the players and fans, but at the same time I’m happy for the club. In two seasons I brought two trophies for the club.”
Coach Man Utd, Mourinho is not happy and not fair-play (as usual):
“I congratulate them because they won but I don’t think they deserved to win. I congratulate [them] because I am a sportsman and they scored one more goal than us and they get the Cup.
I think I have to do what my job requires me to do – I am the Manchester United manager and I must be respectful, not just because they [Chelsea] were my previous club but because they are the opponent that won the Cup. But I think we deserved to win, we were the better team but that’s football.
It’s disappointing. We were the second best team in the Premier League and we were the second best team in the FA Cup, although I think we were the best [in that competition].
I am quite curious today, tomorrow, over the next couple of days to read, to watch, to listen to your opinions. My opinion on my team’s performance is every defeat hurts, but for me personally, the ones that hurt less are the ones when you give everything and you go without any regrets.
So I prefer to lose like today than to lose like we did, for example, at Newcastle [in the Premier League in February].In the first half, we had absolute control and we had control of everything. I leave happy with my players, very happy with them and for me, that’s really important. I gave everything I could and I know the players gave absolutely everything they could.”
