Victor Lindelof of Manchester United scores their side's seventh and decisive penalty in the penalty shoot out past Robert Sanchez of Brighton & Hove Albion during the Emirates FA Cup Semi Final match between Brighton & Hove Albion and Manchester United at Wembley Stadium on April 23 in London.Mike Hewitt/Getty Images
Victor Lindelof swept home the winning penalty kick against Brighton on Sunday to set up an all-Manchester FA Cup final that could have so much more at stake than just the chance to win soccer’s oldest competition.
For Manchester United and Erik ten Hag, it could cap a very encouraging first year under the Dutch manager with a second major trophy – after winning the League Cup – and a statement of intent for next season.
For Manchester City, it could be the second leg of a historic treble that would emulate United’s feat in 1999 when it won the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup all in the same season.
With the fan rivalry and City’s dominance over the past decade, the first FA Cup final between the two teams will be a match laced with tension.
“We will give everything and when I say everything, that is everything. More than 100 per cent you can’t do,” Ten Hag said after United beat Brighton 7-6 on penalty kicks at Wembley after a 0-0 draw through extra time. “But of course we want to give that against City. We want to give the fans that, for sure.”
United’s treble success was its crowning glory under former manager Alex Ferguson, with the Champions League secured in dramatic fashion when substitutes Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer scored in second-half stoppage time to beat Bayern Munich 2-1.
While City has gone on to become the dominant force in English soccer since being taken over by Abu Dhabi’s ruling family in 2008, the club has still never won the Champions League.
That could all change this season with Pep Guardiola’s side advancing to the semi-finals for the third year in a row and looking in ominous form on the back of a 16-game unbeaten run.
City plays defending champions Real Madrid in the last four, so still has much to do to lift the one trophy it is yet to win.
A treble could be considered by some as final confirmation that the club has left United in its wake.
“I understand, of course, the feelings from the Man United fans about it,” Ten Hag said. “We can do it, because we proved it. It’s not an easy job though, it’s a great team, but we also have a great team and great players and we can beat them.”
Ten Hag has already won the League Cup this season – United’s first trophy in six years – and is on course to secure Champions League qualification.
While there have also been lows, such as a 6-3 loss against City and the 7-0 rout by Liverpool, there is a hope among fans that the club is on the way back up after 10 years since its last league title.
Victory against City in the FA Cup final on June 3 would be seen as further evidence that Ten Hag is ready to challenge Guardiola’s dominance.
City advanced to the final with a routine 3-0 win against second-division Sheffied United on Saturday, but United’s route was much more testing against a Brighton team that had the better chances through regulation time.
David de Gea had to make three saves to keep the game goalless after 90 minutes, pushing away an early free kick from Alexis Mac Allister and then pulling off another flying save to deny Julio Enciso in the second half.
Solly March’s late effort was also stopped by De Gea.
March then went on to miss the crucial penalty in the shootout, firing over the bar after both sides had scored their first six spot kicks.
United defender Lindelof struck the winner to spark celebrations from the red half of the stadium.
“I think we deserved to win but [that’s] my opinion,” Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi said. “We played better and we had more chances to score.”
TOTTENHAM FANS’ FURY
Tottenham supporters have called for action after Sunday’s humiliating 6-1 rout by Newcastle. Trailing 5-0 after just 21 minutes at St James’ Park, the loss inflicted a major blow to the club’s hopes of Champions League qualification. “It’s clear that something is seriously wrong at Spurs and our loyal fans deserve so much better,” the Supporters’ Trust tweeted after the match. “Today was completely unacceptable. The @SpursOfficial board needs to act decisively to give us all some hope and something to get behind at the end of a truly awful season.” Jacob Murphy and Alexander Isak both scored twice in a stunning start for Newcastle, with Joelinton adding another. Harry Kane pulled one back for Spurs, but Callum Wilson struck again for the home team.
WEST HAM RISING
It was a good week for West Ham. After coming back from two goals down against Arsenal to earn a 2-2 draw last weekend, a place in the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League was secured by beating Gent on Thursday. But most important to the Hammers is Premier League survival and their hopes of avoiding relegation were boosted by a 4-0 win at Bournemouth on Sunday.
Arsenal recovers for draw at Wolfsburg in Women’s CL
WOLFSBURG, Germany — Stina Blackstenius earned Arsenal a 2-2 draw at Wolfsburg in the first leg of their Women’s Champion’s League semi-final on Sunday. Blackstenius slid in to meet Victoria Pelova’s cross for the equalizer in the 69th minute as the visitors recovered from a two-goal deficit to put themselves in a good position ahead of the second leg in London on May 1. Arsenal said it had already sold 46,000 tickets for the match, a record for a British game in the Women’s Champions League. But Wolfsburg, the reigning German champion, has never lost in seven previous visits to London. Wolfsburg won in the 2013 semi-finals and drew in the 2022 quarter-finals at Arsenal, won three times and drew once at Chelsea, while it defeated Lyon 1-0 in the 2013 final at Stamford Bridge. Some 20,000 tickets were sold for Sunday’s game in Wolfsburg’s stadium. Barcelona defeated Chelsea 1-0 in the other semi-final first leg on Saturday. The final is scheduled for June 3 in Eindhoven in the Netherlands.