LONDON: After Saturday’s FA Cup final victory against Manchester City at Wembley, United manager Erik ten Hag celebrates with his team by hoisting the trophy.According to Reuters
Location: London United preserved their finest effort of a middling season for last, denying their opponents a chance at a double.
In Saturday’s FA Cup final, United stunned Manchester City with a 2-1 triumph, ripping up the form book just as rumors regarding manager Erik ten Hag’s future were circulating.
Ten Hag’s disastrous season, which even United’s manager characterized as “terrible” this week, allegedly led to his dismissal regardless of the outcome at Wembley.
The upper echelons of United may be reconsidering their decision after Ten Hag’s tactical masterpiece derailed City’s attempt to make history.
The odds of City winning the Premier League and FA Cup back-to-back were high.
With goals from Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo in the first half, United were able to neutralize Pep Guardiola’s team and put themselves in position to win the FA Cup for the thirteenth time under Ten Hag.
Before United could celebrate their first FA Cup final success in eight years, they had to face a second-half siege as City stormed forward. A late goal by Jeremy Doku set up a nerve-wracking climax.
Holding the Cup high in the royal box, Ten Hag kissed it as a sign of celebration.
According to Ten Hag’s interview with the BBC, “the performance was very good against the best team in the world.” “Our season has been filled with setbacks due to injuries, but we have demonstrated incredible resilience, and for that, I am proud of our team.”
He said, “I don’t know,” when asked whether he was concerned about his future. I am solely focused on getting my squad ready. I am working on this project. It was certainly a disaster when I walked in. At last, we’ve improved. We would want to be somewhere else.
After a successful season-ending performance, the termination of Ten Hag’s two-year rule would bring back thoughts of the departure of fellow Dutchman Louis van Gaal from Old Trafford. Two days after United’s 2016 FA Cup final triumph against Crystal Palace, Van Gaal was let go.
Ten Hag will be hoping that the 1990 FA Cup final victory against Palace, which began Alex Ferguson’s incredible run after demands for his dismissal earlier that season, is a more appropriate analogy.
In a match that was dubbed Ten Hag’s funeral, Ferguson watched as the much-loathed Dutchman won.
City, now the Premier League champions, are attempting to make history by becoming the first team to win the title in back-to-back seasons. They had previously gone 35 games without a loss in all competitions.
However, Guardiola’s squad looked terrible, allowing Garnacho to score in the 30th minute, only one week after clinching an extraordinary record-breaking fourth consecutive Premier League title.
Josko Gvardiol should have had a hat trick when he headed back the ball past the charging Stefan Ortega, but instead it went to Garnacho, who was ecstatic to receive the unexpected gift.
How wonderful. No one had faith in us. However, we work as a unit. It was “the game of our lives,” according to Garnacho, who scored for the first time in the Cup final since Ricky Villa of Tottenham Hotspur scored for Spurs versus City in 1981.
Nine minutes after that, Mainoo took advantage of some more careless defense by City. Bruno Fernandes was set up by unmarked Mainoo after Garnacho had progressed unimpeded down the right side; Mainoo finished clinically from close range after receiving a wonderful first-time ball.
City finally woke up in the second half, as Erling Haaland struck the crossbar. They had to wait until the 87th minute for substitute Doku to cut the score in half, when his effort went beyond Andre Onana’s reach. This was the first final between the same sides in consecutive seasons since 1885.
But United held strong to earn a spot in the Europa League for next season, the finest outcome of Ten Hag’s two-year rule.
Guardiola sent his congratulations to United. It was a close match. Indeed, that is possible. We were unable to add to their two goals in the dying minutes.
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