Manchester United squeak past Coventry on penalties to reach FA Cup final – The Briefing

Football… bloody hell, as someone once said.

Manchester United managed to turn a walk in the park into a fight for survival at Wembley as they were pegged back from 3-0, saw a Coventry City winner disallowed in the final moments of extra time, and just squeaked past the Championship side 4-2 on penalties to reach next month’s FA Cup final against Manchester City.

Goals from Scott McTominay, Harry Maguire and Bruno Fernandes had Erik ten Hag’s side three up and coasting in the sunshine in north-west London, but Coventry had other ideas.

Ellis Simms got their first in the 71st minute, sweeping the ball in with his right foot in yards of space inside the box, and Callum O’Hare added a second seven minutes later, his shot deflecting off Aaron Wan-Bissaka to wrong-foot goalkeeper Andre Onana.

United fans held their breath when Victor Torp unleashed a powerful shot from the edge of the box, and again as Coventry peppered Onana’s goal with the clock ticking down.

And then came that all-too-familiar feeling when referee Robert Jones pointed to the spot in stoppage time after deciding Luis Binks’ shot had hit the arm of Wan-Bissaka. The Video Assistant Referee opted not to overturn the decision and Haji Wright stepped up to make it 3-3.

There was yet more drama in extra time. Wright drilled a shot just past the far post, Simms hit the crossbar and Coventry had a late winner chalked off for a tight offside after Torp thought he had completed the most remarkable of comebacks.

Casemiro saw his opening penalty for United saved, but Onana stopped O’Hare’s effort before captain Ben Sheaf put his attempt high over the bar. Rasmus Hojlund converted United’s final spot kick to book his side’s place in an all-Manchester final on May 25.

Onana received a second yellow card during the shootout but was not sent off because his first booking was not carried over after extra time. The same thing happened to his Aston Villa counterpart Emiliano Martinez last week in his side’s Europa Conference League quarter-final victory over French club Lille. Onana will not be suspended for the final as accumulated cautions in the FA Cup end in the last eight, according to the Football Association.

An exhausted Carl Anka analyses the key talking points from Wembley…

Why do United always seem to do this?

At the hour mark, The Athletic had written a long paragraph on how this semi-final was United’s most measured and controlled performance in months. There were lines in there outlining how Ten Hag’s side had committed fewer players ahead of the ball when in possession and were better at compressing the spaces between the lines when working without it. This was a team 3-0 up and seemingly through to the FA Cup final. Despite the injuries, off-field disruption and other issues, Ten Hag had almost managed to secure his third domestic final in two seasons.

Then it happened. Another collapse.

But this one lacked the speed or chaos of last autumn’s Champions League defeats by Galatasaray and FC Copenhagen, and instead displayed the steady inevitability — drip, drip, drip — of water damage on a house.

O’Hare’s goal to make it 3-2 spread fear through the United ranks. Coventry kicked on, attacking the space behind an underwhelming Marcus Rashford and exploiting Wan-Bissaka’s naivety on balls from wide areas. Had it not been for several vital interceptions from Diogo Dalot on cut-back crosses (a known United weakness), the Championship side could have scored a fourth or fifth goal in normal time. In the end, they had to settle for a 95th-minute penalty from Wright to send the game to extra time.

It would take the 97th-minute introduction of Amad Diallo for Rashford — who hobbled off injured — for United to staunch the bleeding on their left flank and restore a semblance of control, but by then the damage had already been done. The young Ivorian’s ability to play in tight areas and his precise passing brought to United what Rashford could not provide.

Fatigued bodies and exhausted minds mean any lead United hold — even a three-goal one — is fragile. The hard running and passing of Fernandes and Dalot can only go so far when galvanising a team lacking in so much confidence and chemistry.

What does this mean for Ten Hag and his future?

“Three-nil and you f**ked it up,” was one of the chants from Coventry fans after their side drew level.

“You’re getting sacked in the morning,” was another, aimed at Ten Hag.

On Friday, the United manager said he had no concerns over what outsiders said of his performance or job security, saying the true issue was the injury crisis that has prevented him from selecting his strongest XI in over “18 months”.

Additional injuries to Mason Mount, Sofyan Amrabat and Willy Kambwala on Friday may have strengthened his argument. How many teams could win a Wembley semi-final with a defensive midfielder filling in at centre-back and a right-back having to play on the left flank?

But injuries can only go so far as to explain the repeated, inexplicable and infuriating collapses that this United team have been liable for in 2023-24. It was yet another game in which Ten Hag’s men threw away a multi-goal lead.

There is a gap between what Ten Hag wants and what these players are capable of, and neither party seems capable of bridging the distance.

This certainly must have been interesting viewing for United co-owners Joel and Avram Glazer, both in attendance at Wembley, as well as new investor Sir Jim Ratcliffe, fresh from completing the London marathon earlier in the day.

It is questionable which of the INEOS founder’s Sunday pursuits was more tiring and painful.

Did Casemiro work at centre-back?

He didn’t work from the penalty spot, that’s for sure — his weak effort was comfortably saved to put United on the back foot from the very start of the shootout.

Ten Hag had to move Casemiro from midfield to central defence to cover for the injury-enforced absence of Kambwala. United’s 2023-24 has been a story of square pegs wedged into round holes but Casemiro put together a reasonable body of work at Wembley, taking direction from centre-back partner Maguire and Dalot.

The 32-year-old took time to grow into the occasion. In the 11th minute, Wright skipped away from him to set up a counter-attacking opportunity for Coventry. Had it not been for Dalot scurrying back to make a tackle, the American striker would have been through on goal.

Casemiro is not the all-conquering defensive anchor of previous seasons with United and Real Madrid, but he found ways to exhibit his other talents. He is a formidable aerial presence in both penalty boxes, and his long passing — which had been erratic for large sections of the season — was smoother today.

The extra time and space on the ball he got at centre-back meant he could hit his favoured switch passes with greater precision, such as when he teed up Rashford in the 18th minute with a long ball over the top.

The Brazilian went in at half-time having made four tackles and an additional clearance. But Coventry managed only 40 passes in the final third in those first 45 minutes, compared to United’s 120. And it was a very different story in the second half and extra time.

As Simms’ goal showed, Casemiro’s time at centre-back can only be a temporary measure. The former Everton striker found himself in far too much space and after that, Casemiro and Maguire defended with an increasingly unnerving and uncomfortable energy. Wright, too, had the edge on Casemiro, who could not match the USMNT international for pace and looked weary as the match went on.

Premier League matches in May against Crystal Palace, Arsenal and Brighton — and of course, the FA Cup final against neighbours City — may need his expertise back in central midfield. But with so many centre-backs injured, Casemiro did enough to help his team get over the line on this occasion.

To paraphrase one of his own quotes, Wembley semi-finals are not for playing, “they are for winning, however you can”.

What did Ten Hag say?

“It’s a huge achievement to be twice in a FA Cup final in two years,” said the United manager. “The last 20 years, United was in five times. Now two times in two years, a huge achievement.

“But when you are so in control in a game, dominating, you should bring it over the finish. The way we did was not good. I have to say in the penalties, how we act there, how determined, that was a good sign showing good character. From 70th minute to the end we made mistakes and it shouldn’t have happened.

“We can play on very high levels within the same match, also we can go very low levels in the same game. That’s not explainable but it has to do with managing the game, taking responsibility, taking responsible for each other.

“I have to teach my players clear. We have to do better in such occasions but the difficult to do is (to) put ourselves in a winning position, the last thing is much easier. On several occasions we let ourselves done and let the result slip away but we got away with it.”

What next for United?

Wednesday, April 24: Sheffield United (H), Premier League; 8pm UK, 3pm ET

United are back in Premier League action this midweek, welcoming the team at the bottom of the table to Old Trafford. So no doubt that will be entirely straightforward….

Recommended reading

• Is that extra Champions League spot still heading the Premier League’s way?
• Haji Wright on his ‘crazy’ World Cup goal: ‘I was like, “OK, I’ll take it!”
• David Busst: The story of one of football’s most horrific injuries – as told by those involved

(Top photo: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)