Lindelof the penalty hero as United claim shootout win over Brighton
WINNER: Manchester United's Victor Lindelof scores the winning penalty in the shoot-out during the Emirates FA Cup semi-final at Wembley. Pic: Nick Potts/PA Wire
Erik ten Hag once again proved that his Manchester United side are capable of bouncing back in a big way after reaching a second cup final of the season by beating Brighton on penalties at Wembley.
Neither side could find the net in 120 minutes of football and after Solly March had missed a decisive penalty by blazing over the bar, defender Victor Lindelof stepped up to smash past Robert Sanchez and set up an FA Cup final with rivals Manchester City.
It has been a rollercoaster season for United, who have had some terrible defeats in between their successes, including their Europa League exit to Sevilla on Thursday, but Ten Hag has his side on the cusp of securing a domestic double in his first year in charge having already won the Carabao Cup this season.
Ten Hag didn’t hold back in his assessment of United’s collapse in Sevilla, and questioned his team’s ability to bounce back when they go behind in games. But his confidence in his team being able to regroup after a heavy defeat has not been shaken, and this result proved that he was right to keep that faith.
That’s despite Brighton enjoying much more of the play in the first half. David de Gea was among the worst performers in the defeat to Sevilla, his errors playing a key role in the heavy 3-0 defeat, but they had him to thank for a fantastic save to tip Alexis Mac Allister’s curling free-kick wide of the post early on.
Brighton were scintillating at times in the first half with the way they progressed the ball up the pitch. Enciso, fresh off his stunning winner against Chelsea last week, went close from the edge of the box after the dangerous Kaoru Mitoma had skipped inside from the left.
United were second best for the majority of the first half but sprung into life in the final few minutes before the break, Fernandes firing a low strike wide from a tight angle before Christian Eriksen was denied by the feet of Sanchez having been picked out by Marcus Rashford.
The control Brighton had in the first half gave way to a more end to end, exciting game in the second, with Enciso first forcing de Gea to tip over a rocket of a shot which then saw former United man Danny Welbeck leap highest to head over at the back post from the resulting corner.
But Sanchez made a fine stop to keep the scores level before, in extra time, leaping across his goal to tip a deflected shot from Rashford wide.
Brighton threatened too before penalties came, Mitoma playing a neat one-two with sub Deniz Undav in the box before his touch let him down in front of goal and he was penalised for a lunge for the ball which caught de Gea.
But with neither side able to find the net, the game was decided from the spot. Both sides converted their first six penalties before March fired over, and Lindelof was the hero on the day, keeping his cool to fire into the corner and set up a mouth-watering contest with rivals City.
Sanchez 8, Gross 7, Dunk 7, Webster 7, Estupinan 7 , Caicedo 8, Mac Allister 7, March 7, Enciso 7 (Veltman 67’), Mitoma 7, Welbeck 6 (Undav 75’).Â
De Gea 8, Wan-Bissaka 8 (Malacia 101’, Lindelof 7 , Shaw 7, Dalot 7, Casemiro 7, Eriksen 6 (Fred 62’), Antony 6 (Sabitzer 90’), Fernandes 6 (Weghorst 101’), Rashford 7, Martial 6 (Sancho 85’).
Craig Pawson 6.
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