After a weekend of two stellar semifinal matches, the Emirates FA Cup Final is set to feature a repeat of last year’s tournament finalists.
On Saturday, Manchester City faced off against fellow Premier League team Chelsea. The game was even until the 84th minute, when Bernardo Silva scored a goal that began with Kevin De Bruyne centering the ball and the goalie deflecting it right to Silva. City won 1-0 and earned their place in the final.
The win was huge for them since they had a heartbreaking loss in penalty kicks to La Liga team Real Madrid on Wednesday in the second leg of the Champions League, ruining City’s potential back-to-back treble-winning seasons.
On Sunday, Premier League team Manchester United faced off against Championship team Coventry City. United got off to a 3-0 lead with goals from Scott McTominay, Harry Maguire, and Bruno Fernandes. But Coventry City came back in the last half hour, tying the game up with goals from Ellis Simms, Callum O’Hare, and Haji Wright, who scored on a penalty kick due to a handball from United defender Aaron Wan-Bissaka. The game went into extra time after the kick.
Fernandes and Ellis had shots on the net during extra time, but they hit the crossbar. During the last minutes, Wright crossed the ball in, and Victor Torp stuck his foot out to deflect it into the goal. It looked like City would win, but Wright was just behind the last defender before he got the ball. Because of the offside call, the game was back to 3-3 and continued into penalty kicks.
United was able to capitalize and beat City in the shootout by a score of 4-2.
This sets up United to meet their big rivals, Manchester City, in the finals for another Manchester Derby.
This game will be massive for Manchester City’s manager, Pep Guardiola, as he has a chance to help his team bounce back from the loss against Madrid. It will also be a big game for United’s manager, Erik ten Hag, since the win against Coventry City almost felt more like a defeat.
The last two times the two teams met, City won both matches in the regular season. When the teams faced off in the FA Cup Final last year, City won 2-1.
Regardless of how people look at the May 25 match, it should be an entertaining game, like most Manchester derbies have been.
