A rollercoaster of a game, Manchester United defeated Coventry City 4-2 on penalties to win their way into the FA Cup finals.
A late equalising penalty from Haji Wright forced extra time as Coventry rallied from a 3-0 deficit in the 71st minute.
Bradley Collins saved Casemiro’s first goal in the dramatic penalty shootout, giving Coventry a 2-1 lead following Wright and Victor Torp’s successful attempts; Diogo Dalot scored for United.
After Christian Eriksen levelled the score at 2-2, United was kept in the game by André Onana’s stop of Callum O’Hare’s penalty.
With a clean strike to Collins’ left, Rasmus Højlund gave United the lead after Bruno Fernandes’s successful penalty made it 3-2. Ben Sheaf of Coventry then missed his attempt.
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At 3-0, the game appeared to be over as United supporters sang “Bruno, Bruno” in delight at their third goal. But Coventry under Mark Robins responded with great vigor.
Coventry was brought level by goals from Ellis Simms and Luis Binks, the latter of whom scored a penalty following a handball by Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
A tense extra time saw United try to take the lead but fail. Early in the extra period, Fernandes struck the bar, while Simms of Coventry saw his shot bounce off the underside of the bar.
Although VAR judged Wright offside in the build-up, Torp believed he had won it for Coventry.
The game brought to light United’s defensive flaws, as Coventry took advantage of gaps to almost pull off a huge upset.
Even with flashes of brilliance from United Alejandro Garnacho setting up McTominay’s opener and Fernandes helping Maguire’s header for the second goal they were clearly uneasy under duress.
United eventually held out a valiant Coventry comeback to secure their spot in the FA Cup final, where they will take on Manchester City for the second year running.
The team’s tenacity in the face of doubts about his future was evident in the win, which came after they almost let a comfortable lead to evaporate.
Football is unpredictable, as this exciting match demonstrated, and United and their city rivals will now square off in the final.
