Matthias Callen, Associated Press
5 minutes ago
Manchester United's Marcus Rashford hits Coventry City's Benjamin David Seeff during the English FA Cup semi-final match between Coventry City and Manchester United at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, April 21, 2024 in London. (bottom) and challenges the ball. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
LONDON (AP) — It was an almost timeless comeback for Coventry. Instead, Manchester United limped through to the FA Cup final once again, only to suffer another heartbreaking penalty shoot-out defeat against second-division side Wembley.
After a 3-3 draw in Sunday's semi-final, Coventry rallied from a three-goal deficit against United to force extra-time, completing one of the most unexpected fightbacks in FA Cup history, but they stumbled at the end and were beaten by Eric Ten.・We escaped the team from The Hague with a score. They won 4-2 in the penalty shootout.
After Coventry's Callum O'Hare and Ben Sieff missed their spot-kicks, Rasmus Hjølund converted the decisive penalty, saving United from another embarrassing collapse.
“It was an incredible game, but also a strange game,” Ten Hag said. “We had complete control for a long time, but we gave it up late in the game. We showed tenacity to win the shootout.”
It was another heartbreaking end for Coventry at Wembley, who also missed out on promotion to the Premier League last year after losing on penalties to Luton in the Championship play-off final.
United narrowly escaped in the final against defending champions Manchester City, who defeated Chelsea on Saturday, making it the second consecutive Manchester derby.
But it should never have come this close.
Bruno Fernades' deflected shot gave United a 3-0 lead in the 58th minute and it looked like they were on course for the final against a Championship team with a place in the semi-finals on the line.
But Coventry are no strangers to comebacks, scoring twice in stoppage time to beat Wolverhampton in the quarter-finals, and produced an even better display this time, sparking wild celebrations in Wembley's sky-blue half. Ta.
Striker Ellis Sims gave the Championship side a glimmer of hope when he curled a cross from Fabio Tavares into the net in the 71st minute, while O'Hare scored his second goal in the 79th minute with the help of a lucky deflection and added his fifth goal. Haji Wright scored the tying goal on a penalty kick. One minute of stoppage time after a handball by Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
United took the lead in the 23rd minute with Scott McTominay scoring easily into an empty goal. Harry Maguire then headed United's second goal from a corner kick and it looked like they had secured a comfortable lead at half-time, but Fernandes' shot was deflected and went inside the near post, giving United a comfortable lead. As soon as they scored the third goal, it looked like they wouldn't be able to overturn it.
But no lead seems safe for this United side.
It was United's second late collapse in recent weeks, after they conceded two goals in stoppage time in their 4-3 Premier League defeat to Chelsea earlier this month, but Ten Hag said he had given his team a chance to play the game. He called on people to learn how to end this. They showed no signs of learning that lesson and Coventry came closest to scoring the winning goal in extra time against a hard-hit United side.
First Sims hit the crossbar with a sharp strike, then Victor Tope thought he had scored the winning goal in the 120th minute, further escalating the frenzied celebrations by Coventry players and fans, but he was ruled offside to set up a penalty. ruled out by VAR. Gunfight.
Casemiro missed United's first penalty by shooting directly at goalkeeper Bradley Collins, but Andre Onana saved O'Hare's spot-kick and Scherf sent it over the crossbar.
This saved Ten Hag from further embarrassment and gave United a chance to redeem themselves from a disappointing season. United have only an outside chance of qualifying for next season's Champions League and will have to rely on their rivals to convince new minority owner Jim Ratcliffe to keep Ten Hag in charge next season. They may have no choice but to win the FA Cup trophy at the expense of City.
Ratcliffe, 71, was in the stands after running the London Marathon earlier in the day. Watching the final hour of United's performance could have been as exhausting as the final part of that race.
When Høylund scored the decisive penalty, United's players barely even celebrated, with only Christian Eriksen running over to celebrate with his fellow Dane. Most of the players remained near the halfway line, shaking hands with Coventry players almost timidly – aware of how close they had come to one of the club's most embarrassing defeats.
“We were in a difficult position and we should have finished it sooner, but we didn't,” Fernandes said. “We have to do better.”
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