LONDON: Manchester United overcame an astonishing collapse to beat Coventry on penalties in an FA Cup classic on Sunday, setting up a second straight FA Cup 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 after extra-time.

The game perfectly encapsulated a chaotic season for Ten Hag’s men, who are well off the pace in the Premier League and had a Champions League campaign to forget.

There was no hint of what was to come when United coasted into a 3-0 lead against their second-tier opponents in the London sunshine, with goals from Scott McTominay, Harry Maguire and Bruno Fernandes.

But they have made a habit of tossing away leads in recent weeks and the match against Coventry proved no different.

Second-half strikes from Ellis Simms and Callum O’Hare gave the 1987 FA Cup winners hope and Haji Wright levelled from the penalty spot in the 95th minute, 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 blue.

Coventry manager Mark Robins famously played a key part in United’s FA Cup final win in 1990, a victory that launched two decades of success under Alex Ferguson.

But his team’s push to reach the Championship play-offs has faded in recent weeks and they travelled to Wembley as underdogs despite United’s stuttering season.

On Saturday, holders City beat Chelsea 1-0 with a late Bernardo Silva goal to reach the final after an absorbing end-to-end Wembley semi-final left the exhausted winners still chasing a domestic double.

Silva sidefooted home in the 84th minute after Chelsea goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic parried a Kevin De Bruyne shot and that was enough to edge a hard-fought affair that left Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino waiting for the season to end.

The result offered some consolation for Guardiola’s weary team, who were eliminated on penalties in the Champions League quarter-finals by Real Madrid in midweek.

Portuguese Silva, who missed a penalty in the shootout defeat at home to Real, said he was: “Very happy after a very frustrating week for all of us, for me personally.

“The good thing is in football, if you play at Manchester City you play every three days, so after two to three days, you have a chance for a bit of revenge and to put things right.”.

Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2024