Manchester United beat Coventry City 3-3 (4-2 in penalties) in the semifinal of the FA Cup at the Wembley Stadium last Sunday. The Red Devils raced to a 3-0 lead within the first 60 minutes and looked assured of an easy win at that point.
However, the Sky Blues scored three goals in the space of 25 minutes to equalize and take the match into extra time. Manchester United won the subsequent penalty shoot-out, but the way they scraped through against Coventry City, a Championship side must not have appeased their supporters. Let us take a look at three takeaways from the match:
1. Manchester United’s Defensive Players Scored For Their Team Again
Once again, it was an inept display from United’s front-three, as neither of them managed to score a goal. Scott McTominay and Harry Maguire scored the team’s first two goals, while Bruno Fernandes continued his good form by scoring his fourth goal in the last three matches for them.
McTominay started in the double pivot alongside Kobbie Mainoo, as Casemiro had to start as a centre-back alongside Maguire owing to injuries to a number of defenders. Quite surprisingly, McTominay has now scored 10 goals this season already, which is two more than the tally of Marcus Rashford and only three less than that of Rasmus Hojlund and Fernandes, the club’s joint top-scorers.
2. Coventry City’s Inspiring Fightback Delighted The Neutrals:
The second half saw a lot of drama that is typical of an FA Cup classic. The Sky Blues scored thrice after 70 minutes of the game, with their equalizer coming from an injury-time penalty. Aaron Wan-Bissaka endured a torrid time in United’s defence.
First, there was a deflection off him that led to Coventry’s second goal and then his handball inside the box awarded the latter the penalty. To their credit, Coventry City had 18 shots at the goal (Manchester United had 28) and had 42% ball-possession.
Moreover, the speed in their attacks in the second half was also good to see and must have satisfied the neutrals. Additionally, Coventry also hit the crossbar once and had a goal disallowed by VAR during the extra time. With a bit more luck, they could have won the match actually.
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3. Man United Will Be Underdogs In The Final:
Manchester United will face Manchester City in the final of the FA Cup on 25th May, a repeat of last year’s final. Pep Guardiola’s team has had the upper hand against their city-rivals in the recent past and will once again start as the favorites in the final.
If Manchester United are to make a match of it, they will have to improve their performance considerably. However, if the current form of Erik ten Hag’s team is any indicator, they should find it to be extremely difficult to overcome the Cityzens in the final.
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