Chelsea 1-0 Manchester United: 3 key battles that decided the game

#2 N'Golo Kante vs Paul Pogba

N'golo Kante was the man of the match for his performance

In the battle of the French midfielders, it is no surprise that the one on the winning team came out on top.

Chelsea's player of the season gave the club yet another reason why he was nominated for the award, as he once again was all over the pitch. Every time Manchester United were in the vicinity of the Chelsea goal, Kante was also there - tackling, defending, running.

From the first minute right till the final whistle of the game, the former Leicester City player was involved in several important interceptions, robbing United of chances and sending his teammates back out on retaliating runs.

Paul Pogba did not have a bad game by any means, but this game summed up his season as a whole - a case of being so near yet so far. Pogba had an opportunity to equalise late in the game when he got a free header in the box, but he guided it just wide and with it, all of United's hope vanished.

Kante vs Pogba - stats

With people obsessed over whether Hazard and Courtois will stay at the club, what they don't understand is that Kante is even more integral to the team than the two aforementioned players. Chelsea cannot replace Hazard man for man, but they could modify their playing style to fit in different players. But take away Kante, and the whole system fails.