Chelsea vs Manchester United: The One That Was Harder, Faster, Stronger, Kante

Azpilicueta & one of the Kanté twins

On the back of last season you would be loathe to believe it, but Monday night proved that Jose Mourinho can in fact inspire an outstanding performance from Eden Hazard. Chelsea’s mercurial Belgian looked unplayable at times throughout the game. The times where he was on his feet and not having the living daylights kicked out of him of course.


“[Hazard] suffered more than a couple of nasty tackles and could have been in trouble. I saw lots of players breaking legs and ankles with less than that. He had some very nasty tackles last year. I want Eden to be what he is – absolutely fantastic.” One of the numerous occasions that Jose Mourinho called for more protection of Eden Hazard and players of that ilk. Somehow I suspect his dressing room was given a very different message.

While it’s tempting to dig out the brute force tactics employed by Mourinho’s men, can anyone really blame them? Is there actually a way of reasonably stopping Eden Hazard when he’s in full flow. Ander Herrera was the sacrificial lamb in a hope that would calm things down. Between’s Marcos Rojo’s stamp on Hazard and Antonio Valencia’s two-footed lunge in on N’Golo Kanté, I think we can all agree - rather than introducing ‘serenity now’ it seemed to add fuel to the fouling fire.



If there was ever any doubt that Jose Mourinho is jealous of Antonio Conte’s relationship with the support at Stamford Bridge, he blew it out of the water. Not only did he get into a spat over a challenge in the first half that was so bad Rui Faria had stop step in as the voice of reason. But he also let a handful of supporters in the family stand get under his skin.

Those supporters don’t speak for the majority of fans. They are the vocal minority, and were likely on their annual trip to a match this season. They are not the masses of Chelsea support who won’t forget the successes and trophies Jose Mourinho brought to Chelsea Football Club. It does not matter if he’s been on a bit of a wind up these past few months. Mourinho has built his career on over-egged comments as much as he has his results.

Ironically, it was he who moved those fans behind his technical area. He could have been lapping up the London based United supporters overtly affected affection for him. But Monday he found himself riled by comments that seemed desperate to erase the last 14 years. While Mourinho was quick to remind them that he’d one three titles at Stamford Bridge, its unlikely the message sunk in. Or that they could count as high as three.

Manchester United’s starting XI reminded a nation that strikers are in fact a pretty integral part of a team. And without them you could find yourself in the pesky position of failing to score a goal. While never high on Mourinho’s list of priorities, one would assume that he would have liked more than zero. He was full of praise for the performance, and before the sending off there was a frenetic pace about them, did they really trouble Chelsea’s backline? The only real chance of the game was Marcus Rashford who briefly made the backline look like statues as he easily moved the ball from one foot to the other and forced a great save from Thibaut Courtois.

As great a save as it was, he had nothing on David De Gea who practically stood on his head to ensure they didn’t let in another handful of goals. He was outstanding once again and ensured that Real Madrid will have to pay top dollar for him this summer.

For as good as Hazard was at creating space for himself and reminding Mourinho that he was once player of the year under his watchful eye, it was N’Golo Kanté that deserves the praise. Two goals for Chelsea. Both at Stamford Bridge. Both against Manchester United. Finishing isn’t his forte but you’d never know it when up against Mourinho’s side. He’s undoubtedly almost always the difference in the middle of the pitch. It’s nice that every now and then he gets a moment to shine all on his own.

Roll on the semi-final

jb xx