Manchester United produced a major shock by taking a 2-0 lead at half-time through Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo’s goals in the final.
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Manchester United stunned local rivals Manchester City to win the FA Cup final 2-1 at Wembley Stadium. Heading into the game, City were the overwhelming favourites, and for understandable reasons. They had won their fourth successive Premier League title recently and were in the middle of an incredibly long unbeaten run. On the other hand, United endured a below-par campaign, finishing eight in the league standings.
However, Manchester United produced a major shock by taking a 2-0 lead at half-time through Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo’s goals. United survived a couple of nervy moments in the second half but largely defended resolutely. Jeremy Doku scored late in the game to cause some anxiety among United players and supporters. However, the Red Devils held their nerve to win the FA Cup final over Manchester City 2-1.
After the match, Erik ten Hag found plenty of positives to talk about the win. He also reserved special praise for young Kobbie Mainoo. “It was really incredible to watch Kobbie at his age. We wanted to bring him [through] and in the second game of the season he got an injury. It then took him so long to get back to fitness. I think we have to keep it calm because here in England we do so much in pushing young players high and then hammer them when they have one or two bad performances,” ten Hag told MUTV and BBC Sport.
On the back of a disappointing campaign, ten Hag was happy to end the season with a trophy. “As always the rivalry is always there and it is always much more important when you play against a team from your own city. For us it was not about this, it was about proving a point after having such a bad year with so many setbacks and all the injuries and every time we had to survive. The team showed so much resilience and I am so proud of them,” he elaborated.
The manager added: “We didn’t have the players. You are right we have seen the same thing, it has not always been good football. But we have had to make a lot of compromises and then you can’t play the football you want to play. I have been here two years and we have maybe had three or four times when we have had the full squad available. Today again we have had players like Luke Shaw, Harry Maguire and Casemiro not on board.”
Ten Hag then spoke about the importance of winning silverware, hence he was happy with the job done by his players. “Football is about winning trophies at the end of the day. I want to play the best football, attacking football, dynamic football. But in the end, you have to win games and trophies. That is the mentality we brought in and we had only one opportunity this season, in the FA Cup. I am very proud of the players and the staff because they did a fantastic job,” he explained.
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