Coventry City 3, Manchester United 3 (United won 4-2 on penalties after Extra Time)
There will be a Manchester derby in the FA Cup final for the second year in a row after the Reds held on to beat Coventry City in a penalty shootout after a thrilling FA Cup semi final.
Embed from Getty ImagesInjury hit United had to dig deep into their squad as Casemiro was drafted in as an emergency centre back with Harry Maguire, Diogo Dalot, and Aaron Wan-Bissaka the only fit defenders at the club.
And it all seemed to be going to plan after Scott McTominay’s swept in finish, Harry Maguire’s header from a corner, and Bruno Fernandes gave the Reds a towering lead by the 58th minute.
United boss Erik Ten Hag admitted that the Reds had ‘got away with it’ after they had contrived to throw away that 3-0 lead following the withdrawal of Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho to allow the Sky Blues to equalise in the fifth minute of injury time in normal time as defensive frailty was once again to blame.
Ellis Simms, Callum O’Hare, and Haji Wright (with an injury time spot kick after Wan-Bissaka’s hand-ball) helped Coventry fight back to parity and earn a late reprieve for the Championship side as United’s midfield let them down again.
The drama wasn’t over after that as Coventry then hit the crossbar with a extra time strike by Ellis Simms before substitute Victor Torp thought he had won the game in the 121st minute but his ‘winning goal’ was dramatically ruled out for offside by VAR.
After a controversial and heartstopping finale it finally came down to penalties.
And in a week where Bernardo Silva’s attempted Panenka penalty was saved by Real Madrid goalkeeper Andriy Lenin, Casemiro contrived to do the same with the first spot kick of the sequence.
But the pressure finally told on Coventry who saw consecutive spot kick misses by O’Hare and Ben Sheaf leaving the way open for Bruno Fernandes, who had also hit the woodwork for the Reds during the game, and Rasmus Hojlund to fire United into the final to the relief of the players and fans.