Jose Mourinho says Manchester United were “unlucky” and “deserved to win” cup final

LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 19: Jose Mourinho, Manager of Manchester United looks dejected following The Emirates FA Cup Final between Chelsea and Manchester United at Wembley Stadium on May 19, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 19: Jose Mourinho, Manager of Manchester United looks dejected following The Emirates FA Cup Final between Chelsea and Manchester United at Wembley Stadium on May 19, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images) /
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Manchester United were defeated 1-0 by Chelsea yesterday in the FA Cup final at Wembley. United manager Jose Mourinho commented after the game claiming his former club, Chelsea, “didn’t deserve to win”.

Manchester United dominated the match with 67% of the possession. They also tested the opposition goalkeeper more frequently with 18 shots to Chelsea’s six.

However, an Eden Hazard penalty in the 22nd minute was enough to secure the cup for the Blues. The Belgian got back up after he was brought down by Phil Jones to coolly stroke the ball past David De Gea.

And Jose Mourinho claimed this was the only time De Gea had to touch the ball. The Manchester United manager bemoaned Antonio Conte’s defensive style of play. He claimed, “I don’t think they deserve to win.”

"“I think we deserved to win. I think we were the best team but that’s football.”"

Mourinho then hit back at the press and media who have often criticised United’s laboured style of play this season. Jose would have been intrigued to know what would have been said about his team had Manchester United played as defensively as Chelsea did.

"“I’m quite curious to know what you say, what people write because I can imagine if my team played like Chelsea did, I can imagine what everyone would say.”"

United threw everything at the Chelsea bus

Jose Mourinho was adamant his Manchester United side could have no regrets after the match. He claimed his side gave all they had and threw everything to try and break down the Chelsea bus: “I gave everything I could, the players gave everything.”

"“It is a kind of defeat that obviously hurts but I go home with the feeling that we gave everything, no regrets.Before the match, it was not clear whether Romelu Lukaku would start the match after his recent injury. The Belgian did not start and Marcus Rashford was given the nod up top.”"

Mourinho felt the lack of a presence up front without Lukaku would make it difficult for United to break Chelsea down. This was certainly the case with Conte’s men surrendering all space in behind.

"“It was hard for us to play without Lukaku against a team that defends with nine players. You need that presence in the box that we didn’t have for a long time.“This is the way they normally play. But I think today, especially after the 1-0, they were really really defensive. They are not stupid, they know that our team without Lukaku or Fellaini we don’t have a presence. So accumulating 8 or 9 players in front of the box they knew they were going to be dominant.”"

Mourinho was questioned further on Romelu Lukaku’s cameo

The Manchester United manager was asked further questions about Lukaku’s role in his post-match press conference. The journalists found it bizarre that Romelu was fit enough to make the bench but not the starting XI.

Mourinho then clarified it was, in fact, Lukaku himself who had asked not to start as he didn’t feel e was ready. Jose then questioned how many minutes would he be likely to play, the answer was clearly 20.

Further questions from the journalists about why Lukaku wasn’t pushed harder to play, Mourinho said it would have been “nonsense” to try and convince him otherwise.

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Despite the Red Devil’s top goalscorer not being able to play a full 90 minutes, Mourinho was defiant in his belief that United were unlucky. He picked out a couple of chances which were important moments.

"“We tried everything, we tried by other ways but there was a huge block compact of players. Cortouis had a couple of saves, we were unlucky with some balls in the box: Paul’s header is an important one, Rashford’s shot is another one. For me, the image of the game is that David De Gea didn’t touch the ball. He touch the ball to grab the ball in the net.” [BBC Sport]"