Manchester United needed penalties to beat Coventry and reach the FA Cup final after throwing away a three-goal lead and surviving a tight offside decision in extra-time.
Coventry produced a miraculous comeback to beat Wolves 3-2 in the quarter-finals, and somehow nearly managed to better it on the biggest stage. But Rasmus Hojlund kept his cool to slot the winning penalty for United.
Scott McTominay opened the scoring with a tap-in from Diogo Dalot's low cross before Harry Maguire powered in a header from a corner to make it 2-0 before the break.
Bruno Fernandes ' deflected strike made it 3-0 and United appeared to be in control before Coventry mounted a comeback. Ellis Simms gave the 36,000 Sky Blues fans something to cheer by rifling a first-time effort past Andre Onana before Callum O'Hare's shot took a huge deflection off Aaron Wan-Bissaka and looped into the corner to give Coventry hope.
Onana produced a stunning save to keep out a piledriver of a volley from Victor Torp, but the game turned when Wan-Bissaka was penalised for a handball after Luis Binks propelled the ball towards him from a few yards away. Haji Wright kept his cool from the spot to send the match into extra-time.
Fernandes struck the bar and Wright dragged a shot wide on the break before Simms crashed an effort into the bar in the final minutes of a frantic extra-time period. Torp appeared to have won it in the final minute, but the bedlam was cut short when VAR discovered Wright was offside in the build-up to bring penalties.
Casemiro's casual effort was saved first up by Brad Collins but Onana saved from O'Hare to level it up and Ben Sheaf skied his effort over the bar to allow Hojlund the winning moment. Here are the talking points from a dramatic afternoon at Wembley.
McTominay makes his mark
United would be in an even worse position this season without McTominay. The divisive midfielder now has 10 goals for the season – his best-ever tally for United, despite struggling to hold down a starting place in Erik ten Hag’s side. Only Rasmus Hojlund has a better minutes-per-goal ratio than him this season.
McTominay scored twice in a remarkable 2-1 win over Brentford in October. He netted twice in a 2-1 win over Chelsea in December. And he also netted the winner in a 2-1 win over Aston Villa in February. His ability to time his runs into the area is an underrated one, which was on show at Wembley. It was the Scot who sent the ball out wide to Alejandro Garnacho and he was there in the six-yard box to convert Dalot’s cross seconds later, having ghosted in.
The 27-year-old will likely continue to divide opinion among United fans. Depending on your perspective, he's either an incredibly useful academy graduate who works hard and scores big goals, or a limited, error-prone player who is a symbol of how far standards have dropped at the once-great club. Given what came after, this goal is unlikely to change peoples' minds.
Maguire’s redemption arc
Like McTominay, it has been a difficult season for Maguire, who came close to joining West Ham in the summer and spent the start of the season watching United games from the substitutes’ bench. He has been helped by United’s miserable injury record, with Lisandro Martinez, Raphael Varane, Jonny Evans and Willy Kambwala all missing at Wembley.
Availability is a big thing for any player and Maguire is back in the good books after powering in a free header from a corner just before half-time. It’s hard not to feel pleased for him – the dedicated player stripped off the captaincy, the defender who has endured abuse and come back. His improved form comes at a good time for Gareth Southgate, with England’s first game at Euro 2024 just 56 days away.
Simms strikes
The Sky Blues saw off Oxford United, Sheffield Wednesday, Maidstone and Wolves to book a second trip to Wembley within a year. They suffered heart-break in the play-off final against Luton in May, but the spirit in Robins' side is something else.
Simms has been in the form of his life of late and didn’t flinch when Fabio Tavares’ cross dropped slightly behind him. He swung his right foot, and although it hit his shin, it still flew past Onana at the near post. The 23-year-old has now scored 15 goals in his last 14 games – which is all the more remarkable considering his slow start to the season. His goal gave Coventry a glimmer of hope before O'Hare received a huge slice of luck to further close the gap.
United fans make their voice heard
It was a happy day out for United fans in north west London, but that didn’t stop them from booing. It wasn’t the team or the officials who elicited that response, but executive co-chairman Avram Glazer, who made a rare appearance to watch his team play.
He appeared on the big screen early in the second half, sat alongside Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who had hot-footed it over from the Mall after completing the London Marathon in a personal best time of 4:30:52. The boos were immediate and loud – and just to be clear who they were intended for, the fans followed them with a chant of “We want Glazers out!”
Ratcliffe may have taken over control of the sporting side of things since buying a minority stake in February, but the Glazers are still involved – and some fans won’t be happy until they are gone. INEOS billionaire Ratcliffe urged patience after running 26.2 miles. “The fans are impatient,” Ratcliffe told the BBC. “It's a journey, they have to be patient. It's not a light switch. We will turn it around."
Coventry ride the wave
Coventry looked dead and buried at 3-0 down. But anyone who watched their win over Wolves in the previous round would have told you not to be so silly as to call it early. Robins looked to his bench, rang the changes and the Sky Blues came back, riding a wave of emotion from their fans and nervousness from the United side.
Simms' goal came off his shin. O'Hare's took a gigantic, almost comical, deflection. Wright's penalty came from a very debatable handball decision. But neutrals all over the country were busy screaming about the Magic Of The Cup (tm) and Coventry didn't care. They appeared to have won it without penalties when Torp tapped in from Wright's cross, but VAR cruelly robbed them of the goal and it was Wembley sadness for the Sky Blues again.
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