FA Cup Final Update: Eden Hazard penalty after Phil Jones mistake seals FA Cup glory for Antonio Conte

FA Cup Final Update – Antonio Conte can at least say he went down in a blaze of glory.

The Chelsea boss admitted even FA Cup success may not save him from the sack at Stamford Bridge.

Eden Hazard made sure it was Chelsea who were celebrating at Wembley by making and scoring his first-half penalty.

And it means Conte will bow out a winner when the axe falls, just like Louis van Gaal did two years ago after winning the Cup for Manchester United.

The Royal Wedding was just down the M4 at Windsor but this showpiece was all about Conte’s divorce — and whether he would get any silverware in the split.

The Italian ranks this season as a success despite failing to defend the Premier League title.

His team could only finish fifth but Conte made the point that Chelsea never backed him up in the transfer market.

His frosty relationship with predecessor Jose Mourinho, now in charge at United, may have thawed in the second half of the season but yesterday’s victory will still taste sweet.

Conte called the Special One a “little man” and a “fake” at the height of their verbal warfare.

Here he left the Portuguese potless for the season, which will now be remembered for being in the shadow of Pep Guardiola’s Centurions at Manchester City.

It was fitting that Hazard got the winner.

He was one of the first players Mourinho called out when it all started to unravel for him at Stamford Bridge three seasons ago, insisting he wanted more from one of the best players in the Premier League.

It looked like the Belgian was determined to stick the knife into his old boss with his performance yesterday.

Both teams stuttered and were cagey — like they were during the season — but Hazard was the real bright spark among it all.

He gave an early warning with a run at Phil Jones when he breezed past him and forced a save from David De Gea at his near post.

And Hazard had the England centre-back on toast when he created and scored the winner midway through first half.

Conte’s lads went from defence to attack in a matter of seconds with Hazard’s speed.

It was also thanks to a beautiful pass from Cesc Fabregas, collecting the ball from Victor Moses before leaning back and lofting a pass that landed on his team-mate’s bootlaces.

Hazard’s first touch took him around Jones and he sped into the penalty area, only being stopped by the United defender’s sliding challenge on the six-yard line.

Michael Oliver received death threats after sending off legendary Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon recently — but there was no controversy over the award of this spot-kick.

Chelsea were furious that Jones was not given a straight red card but Oliver reckoned he made a genuine attempt to play the ball and the defender was spared an early bath under new ‘double jeopardy’ rules.

Hazard coolly stroked home the spot-kick before cupping his ear at the Manchester United fans who had very little to cheer in the first half.

There was a tame penalty shout when Cesar Azpilicueta had a nibble at Alexis Sanchez’s ankle — but there was no need for VAR to have a look.

It took half an hour for the Premier League runners-up to have their first real effort on goal when Paul Pogba’s effort drifted wide.

They simply looked short on firepower without Romelu Lukaku leading the line.

The Belgian striker had worked for two weeks back in his homeland to be fit after ankle problems. But he was only fit enough for the bench and United sorely missed his presence.

Mourinho questioned his attackers after their league defeat at Brighton, insisting the performance of Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial showed just why he always picked Lukaku.

The opening 45 minutes here merely emphasised how important the £75million man is to Mourinho as United failed to get a shot on target, with their only other chance being Jones’ header wide.

Rashford was the main striker and he got a glimpse of goal after the break as United finally started stepping on the throttle.

Sanchez won the ball off Fabregas in Chelsea territory and it opened up for Rashford, who went for power over placement and saw Thibaut Courtois save.

Courtois made a wonder save to claw away Jones’ header from a free-kick, with Sanchez confirmed as offside by VAR when he booted in the rebound.

Just before he was subbed, Rashford raced through again and Courtois saved bravely at his feet.

The keeper also parried a powerful Nemanja Matic drive as United piled on the pressure.

And while Lukaka was sent on with 17 minutes left, it was Pogba who was guilty of the worst miss when he sent a free header wide from a corner.