Chelsea

Chelsea and Manchester United battled in the FA Cup final in the second-most pompous event in England on Saturday. For both clubs, it was the culmination of a season fans of neither club will remember fondly.

While Chelsea won 1-0, it’s tough to determine which club had the worse season.

A vintage N'Golo Kante tackle prevented the world's most feared counterattack from delivering. Liverpool's triumverate of Mo Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino has been devastating on the counter all season, and it looked as if they would break through first on Sunday with Sadio Mane charging at a retreating Gary Cahill.

Then N'Golo Kante tracked back and snuffed out the attack.

Make no mistake, Chelsea’s Premier League title defense has been nothing short of a disaster. In fact, their season as a whole could be summed up as outrageously underwhelming on all levels. They sit in fifth place and face an extremely difficult task in trying to catch London rivals Tottenham in fourth. 

Spurs are five points ahead and there are only three games left to play this season. Also, bigger foundational problems loom for Chelsea in the offseason — problems that no doubt contributed to the malaise and poor form throughout the campaign.

Manchester United and Chelsea are historical rivals; we all know that. We also know it’s a mild one compared to Man United’s rivalry with Liverpool or Chelsea’s rivalry with Arsenal. Though with a bitter and old conflict between mammoth managers Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte, Manchester United and Chelsea face a more complicated battle for the FA Cup final come May 19. 

Olivier Giroud is a bit of an enigma. He’s a large center forward with a meaty French forehead who is often at his best using his size and strength to score with his head — and he also scores some of the most incredible goals in the world. The Giroud goal vs Southampton for Chelsea in the FA Cup semifinals on Sunday at Wembley Stadium falls into the latter category.