What a day! The sun was shining down on Wembley, especially for the red side of Manchester as United avenged last year’s disappointment by stunning our neighbours Manchester City to win the FA Cup for the 13th time in our history. Ahead of the game, there were claims that manager Erik Ten Hag would be sacked regardless of whether we won. The Dutchman produced a tactical masterclass to outwit his counterpart Pep Guardiola with the United players stepping up to frustrate our opponents and restricting them to not too many opportunities. At the same time, we executed counterattacks that saw us take control of the game.
United hit City with the direct approach
Ten Hag had decided to stick with his box midfield led by Bruno Fernandes and Scott McTominay, while including Marcus Rashford in the starting eleven after being snubbed for the Euro 2024 squad earlier in the week. The opening exchanges of the match were tense as City took control of the possession. United managed to restrict the central space and dealt with the deliveries into the box comfortably.
The Red Devils were going with a direct approach against City and after a brief period of possession, it was Garnacho who snapped a shot towards goal. The Citzens nearly went ahead in the 25th minute when Phil Foden played Matteo Kovacic through but could not find his teammates after cutting the ball back.
United’s direct approach was soon to prove fruitful when in the 30th minute a ball over the top by Diogo Dalot toward Alejandro Garnacho saw a mix-up between City’s Josko Gvardiol and Stefan Ortega. The ball bounced over the goalkeeper and perfectly into the path of the Argentine who tapped into the net to strike first to the delight of the travelling Reds. While we were in pure ecstasy, United thought they doubled their lead in the 38th minute when Garnacho put the ball across the six-yard box for Marcus Rashford to slot home. However, the goal was ruled out for offside.
Just a minute later, Garnacho would punish the City high line when a perfectly timed pass from Rashford landed in his path on the right wing. The Argentine drove the ball toward the box before laying it off into the path of Bruno Fernandes. The Portuguese maestro no look pass saw unmarked Kobbie Mainoo with a cool finish to give the Reds a 2-0 lead going into the break.
United resilient in defence
Pep Guardiola decided to switch it up for City by bringing on Jeremy Doku for the second half to add some impetus to their attack. United continues to go on the front foot as Rashford nearly got through on goal after the ball over the top. While we had a penalty shout dismissed Rhodri beat Scott McTominay to a pass that came across the box.
City had an excellent opportunity to pull one back but Erling Haaland’s effort had rattled the bar before being cleared away by the United defence. Andre Onana was called into action as he stopped a thunderous strike from Kyle Walker going into the top corner of the net. He dived late to get his hands on it. Our opponents started to pile more pressure on the United defence as they hit us with attack after attack.
Lisandro Martinez and Marcus Rashford exited the pitch in the 70th minute, with the Argentine showing signs of fatigue. Rashford had provided outlets for our attacks and the chances of adding a third goal slightly diminished. He kept the ball moving forward and his link-up play with his teammates was excellent.
United had a scare in the 75th minute when City was claiming a penalty after Kobbie Mainoo had seemingly wrestled Haaland to the ground but referee Andrew Madley deemed it to be a fair challenge. The nerves amongst the United faithful intensified as we approached full-time as our defence was pinned back in their area. City’s Jeremy Doku cuts inside in the 87th minute to fire the ball into the corner of the net to halve the deficit. Andre Onana who made some fine saves during the game should have dealt with it better.
Seven minutes was put upon the fourth official’s board as United replaced Scott McTominay and Alejandro Garnacho with Victor Lindelof and Mason Mount. With the fresh legs on the field, we effectively shut the shop against our rivals who searched for the equaliser. We won a free kick up the field in the 97th minute after Hojlund was fouled. Fernandes subsequently hit the ball into the corner of the pitch as the referee blew the whistle for full-time as United brings the FA Cup back home to Old Trafford since 2016.
Player Ratings & MOTM
Andre Onana – 7. Made a few fine saves especially from Kyle Walker and dealt with most of the danger that came his way. Should have done better to prevent Doku’s goal.
Diogo Dalot – 8. Confident on the ball going forward and was composed in the defence. It was his ball over to Garnacho that gave us the lead.
Raphael Varane – 8.5. Looked sharp and was alert to the danger being posed by City. A rock at the back.
Lisandro Martinez – 8. It showed how much we had missed the Argentine during the season because of injury. An excellent defensive display as he marshaled Erling Haaland and did not give him a sniff. We just hope he gets back fully fit for the new season.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka – 7. Rarely trouble in the first half but had a much trickier time when Doku came on in the second half. Despite a few occasions, he managed to handle him well.
Sofyan Amrabat – 8. His best performance in a United shirt. Disciplined and suffocated the City midfield winning the ball several times while marshalling teammates in a stunning display.
Kobbie Mainoo – 10 & MOTM. He was the main man throughout the game. It was his interception inside the box that prevented City from taking the lead early on. He was the coolest man in Wembley when he slotted home our second goal of the game. Showed composure and maturity that is wise beyond his years.
Scott McTominay – 7. Played an important part in stifling the City midfield and kept pushing United forward with his runs up the pitch.
Marcus Rashford – 7. Worked hard throughout the game as his pace was a threat to the City defence. Unlucky in that his goal was ruled out for offside.
Alejandro Garnacho 9. Did well to anticipate the mistake from Gvardiol and Ortega to put United ahead. A constant danger on the right and a great performace.
Bruno Fernandes – 9. Provided five of the six key passes but it was his no-look for Mainoo’s goal that was the best of them all. Industrious as ever, he led by example and delivered a captain’s performance
Subs:
Rasmus Hojlund – 7. Held up the ball well, driving United further up the pitch and winning fouls at crucial points.
Jonny Evans – 7. Kept cool and calm as he defended well.
Mason Mount – 7. Had a few touches on the ball and helped see out the game.
Victor Lindelof – 7. Did the job he needed to do which was to provide an extra body in the defence to shut out the City attack.
Looking ahead
The season is now over and in lots of ways we will all be glad for the rest. United have had a disappointing league campaign as we only finished 8th in the table. There have many lows throughout the season and records broken for the wrong reasons. However, it was the FA Cup that produced the highest of highs for the season and was made even sweeter that we did it against our neighbours Manchester City. The fans have travelled home and away showing their unwavering support throughout the course of the season. We will hopefully see within the next few weeks whether or not Ten Hag remains at the club but after his tactical masterclass and performance from the players in the final, he deserved to have another season at least.
