Manchester United on Sunday recovered from an astonishing collapse to beat Coventry City on penalties in an FA Cup classic, setting up a second straight final against Manchester City.
Erik ten Hag’s men won the shootout at Wembley 4-2, with Rasmus Hojlund scoring the decisive spot-kick after the teams were level at 3-3 following extra time.
The game perfectly encapsulated a chaotic season for United manager Ten Hag’s men, who are well off the pace in the English Premier League.
Photo: Reuters
There was no hint of what was to come when United coasted to a 3-0 lead against their second-tier opponents in the London sunshine, with goals from Scott McTominay, Harry Maguire and Bruno Fernandes.
However, they have made a habit of tossing away leads in the past few weeks.
Second-half strikes from Ellis Simms and Callum O’Hare gave the 1987 FA Cup winners hope, and Haji Wright leveled from the penalty spot deep into stoppage time, capping a scarcely credible comeback.
Coventry fans taunted Ten Hag with chants of “you’re getting sacked in the morning” as belief infused the massed ranks of supporters clad in light blue.
A gripping period of extra time followed, with both teams hitting the woodwork, before Manchester United held their nerve to win the shootout.
“It was an incredible game, a strange game too,” Ten Hag told ITV. “We had total control for so long and then gave it away in the last part of the game. We did show resilience to win the penalty shootout.”
“We have to improve,” he added. “We talk a lot about this. First you have to put yourself in a winning position but then you have to take it over the line.”
Coventry manager Mark Robins famously played a key part in United’s FA Cup win in 1990, a triumph that launched two decades of success under former manager Alex Ferguson.
However, his team’s push to reach the UEFA Championship playoffs has faded in the past few weeks and they traveled to Wembley as underdogs despite United’s stuttering season.
A clearly disappointed Robins said that defeat felt like “kick in the teeth.”
“We’ve just said to them they’ve put themselves right up there in the history of the football club,” he said. “People will talk about this game for a long time.”
Manchester City, who beat United in last year’s final, edged Chelsea 1-0 in the other semi-final on Saturday.
It is only the second time in the competition’s history that the same two teams have reached successive finals, the first sides to do so since 1885.
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