Chelsea captain Gary Cahill has admitted that they needed their FA Cup final success against Manchester United to "save" their season.

Antonio Conte's side only managed a fifth-place finish in the Premier League this term, missing out on a place in the Champions League next season just 12 months on from being crowned champions of England.

Eden Hazard scored the only goal of the game at Wembley this afternoon as Chelsea ended their campaign with silverware in the FA Cup final, and Cahill described the triumph as "a dream come true".

"Unbelievable. You can see what it means to us, to the fans and the staff. This was to save our season, we haven't had a magnificent season by any stretch. We are used to winning, I'm not saying that in an arrogant way," he told BBC Sport.

"We had a lot of defending to do, they pushed us until the very end. We are buzzing. We got the job done. This a dream come true because it is my first trophy win as captain of the club.

"It is extra special for me. I didn't play in 2012, from a selfish point of view it is not the same feeling when you have not won it on the pitch. We needed to win this for everybody, we are not in control of decisions."

The triumph is Chelsea's eighth in the FA Cup, and their first since 2011-12.