A heated FA Cup quarter-final was ultimately decided by a sublime long-range strike from the effervescent midfield battler N’Golo Kante – who put in yet another sublime display, to set up a tantalising London derby with Tottenham Hotspur in the semi-finals.
Manchester United played a defensive style that basically revolved around stopping Eden Hazard, by any means necessary.
Michael Oliver had previously been lenient in his decision to hand out cards, but in the space of 15 minutes he had controversially sent off Ander Herrera and simultaneously handed Chelsea the upper hand in the tie. United did, however, manage to get into the break level, despite Hazard’s best attempts.
Chelsea’s one man advantage soon began to pay dividends as they ascended on the United goal, but it was possibly the most goal-shy of them all who broke the deadlock when he fired home a rasping 25-yard drive.
Even though Mourinho’s men had barely threatened all night, David Luiz nearly gave them a route back into the game when he rushed into a tackle on Marcus Rashford, allowing the youngster to skip past both him and Cahill before Thibaut Courtois expertly saved his close-range shot.
Chelsea let numerous chances go begging as the Premier League leaders looked to close out the game, but fortunately, they were not made to pay for it and as a result, the Blues march on to the FA Cup semi-finals.
