Manchester United reached the FA Cup final after overcoming Brighton & Hove Albion on penalties in the semifinals with Victor Lindelof scoring a winning penalty to make it 7-6 on spot-kicks after a goalless draw to set up FA Cup final with Man City on June 3.
Subscribe to Switch TV for more exciting content
Riyad Mahrez’s hat-trick ensured Manchester City reached the showpiece occasion next month with a 3-0 victory over Championship side Sheffield United at Wembley to end a run of three successive semi-final losses.
Read Also: London Marathon 2023: Kenyan Kiptum Named a new king as Hassan Makes a remarkable debut
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola joked that Manchester United fans do not need to be scared about his side winning the treble this season, insisting it was still “far away” after they booked their place in the FA Cup final.
After the win against Championship side Sheffield United at Wembley Pep Guardiola said:
“They don’t have to be scared, we are neighbours, and the neighbours are always nice to each other,” he said. “We are far away, people cannot believe that we are far away with this kind of situation. It is OK for people to discuss it for a funny moment, but the reality is different. The reality is to come here and perform.”
Solly March only player to miss as Man Utd look to add to Carabao Cup win in Erik ten Hag’s first season.
After the shoot-out, Man Utd head coach Erik Ten Hag said:
“It was the worst game of the season in Sevilla. You can’t change it anymore but take the lessons for the future.
“What we’ve proved is we can deal with setbacks and bounce back between games, but now what we have to improve is bouncing back in a game, in difficult situations, in away stadiums, we have to show personality, carry on and stick to the plan.
Read Also: Juventus: Advance to semi in Europa, as 15-point penalty reversed sees them third in Serie A
Brighton flew out of the blocks and saw Alexis Mac Allister pull David De Gea into an early fingertip save from a free-kick, but United improved as the half wore on and Bruno Fernandes and Anthony Martial both missed presentable chances in added time.
Asked what he said to Solly March, who missed in the shootout, De Zerbi said:
“Not too many words. I told him I was a player and made a lot of mistakes in penalties and it isn’t a problem. “He was one of the best players in terms of quality of performance on the pitch. I’m proud of him, especially [on Sunday].”
“We deserved to win because we played better and we had more chances to score. We suffered in the middle of the second half but for the other part of the game we commanded the play, we played in the other half of the pitch.”
Read Also: Europa results: Shaky Man Unt knocked out by Sevilla, Maguire’s error continues
In extra time, Marcus Rashford flashed an effort past the post with only Robert Sanchez to beat before Kaoru Mitoma’s heavy touch denied him what seemed a certain last-minute winner – and after each of the first 12 penalties in the resulting shoot-out was scored.
March’s miss left Victor Lindelof to score the winning spot-kick and set United up for a shot at a second trophy this season.
Subscribe to Switch TV for more exciting content
Manchester United are back in action on Thursday evening at home to Tottenham; kick-off at 10.15 pm as Brighton visits Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Wednesday night; kick-off at 9.30 pm.
Man Utd’s next three fixtures
April 27: Tottenham (A) – Premier League, kick-off 10:15 pm
April 30: Aston Villa (H) – Premier League, kick-off 4 pm
May 4: Brighton (A) – Premier League, kick-off at 10 pm
