Antonio Conte prevails over Jose Mourinho in every way – again – in Chelsea’s FA Cup win
A comfortable but controversial 1-0 win for Chelsea sees Antonio Conte through to his first trip to Wembley, defeating Jose Mourinho yet again in the process.
The build-up to Chelsea’s FA Cup quarterfinal centered around Jose Mourinho’s attempts to garner some pity for Manchester United’s fixture congestion. Of course, everyone at Chelsea are familiar with the Portuguese’s dramatic infatuations. Mourinho loves creating certain storylines heading into highly-anticipated contests.
On this occasion, he claimed that the Blues’ lighter schedule has been a major reason for their success. He thus painted his team as severe underdogs against the league leaders.
Ironically, Mourinho’s disastrous final months in charge at Stamford Bridge knocked Chelsea out of contention for European football this year. When he left in December 2015, Chelsea were relegation candidates more than title challengers.
The fans surely knew this as the words consistently spilled out of Jose’s mouth ahead of the FA Cup clash. The players knew it, too.
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On the opposite side, Antonio Conte refused to involve himself in any pre-match antics. Unlike Arsene Wenger, who Mourinho has continuously goaded into public spats, Conte resisted the urge to bite back. He knew too well that would play right into his counterpart’s hands.
Conte is an active and energetic character on the touchline. He is equally calm, cool and collected off it. He saves his talking for the pitch, as evidenced by Monday’s arguments with the Manchester United coaching staff.
For Conte, last night was simply another match. Nothing is personal to the Italian. He leaves the drama to the press or, in this case, other managers. The 4-0 win over United all the way back in October meant little more to him than the 2-0 win at Southampton which followed it.
For Mourinho, however, the embarrassment stung. His frustration boiled over during that encounter. He criticized Conte for “over-celebrating” Chelsea’s fourth and final goal. For a man with a huge ego, being outplayed at his former stomping ground severely hurt.
The managers clashed several times during Monday’s quarterfinal. United transparently attempted to match Chelsea’s skill with an aggressive style of tackling. This angered Conte, who was most unhappy at United constantly hacking Eden Hazard.
Michael Oliver gave Ander Herrera his marching orders for continuous fouls on the Belgian winger. Minutes later, the benches erupted in a touchline dispute. Things settled down soon after and Chelsea never looked back after N’Golo Kante scored early in the second half.
Antonio Conte was lively as usual on the touchline. He barked orders right up until the final whistle, ordering and organising his players to avoid any potential slip-ups. All the while, the home crowd taunted Mourinho. He responded with three fingers in the air to signal the Premier League titles he won at Chelsea.
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One manager focused on ensuring his side saw out their inevitable victory. The other focused on his former supporters. It may have just been a moment out of the whole 90, but it’s another example on how differently both characters operate. And how one of them keeps coming out on top in each battle.
Chelsea and Manchester United meet one more time this year, in mid-April at Old Trafford. Both teams hold different ambitions heading towards the final part of the campaign. Chelsea are closing in on the Premier League title while United are pushing for a top-four finish.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic will be back from his suspension at the next meeting. If United can control their discipline, they may be able to match Chelsea 11 v 11 for a longer period.
But there is one thing we can take away from the quarterfinal result. On the pitch or off, Antonio Conte continues to get the better of Jose Mourinho.