Alexis Sanchez and Ander Herrera scored as United came from behind to deservedly win an excellent semi-final at Wembley
Once again Manchester United have the chance to end a season of many disappointments with a flash of the finest silver. Winners of this competition under Louis van Gaal in 2016, and of the League and Europa Cups under José Mourinho last year, they will take a place in another final after condemning Tottenham and their manager, Mauricio Pochettino, to yet another season without a crowning achievement.
Given their history both in this competition and in others, Tottenham came into the game with not so much a monkey on their back as an entire posse of primates. A run of FA Cup semi-final failures, now extended to eight, no significant trophies for a decade and only two League Cups since they last snuck into the final and won this Cup against Nottingham Forest in 1991 represents a lengthy period if not quite in the wilderness then at least in a chilly hinterland.
Manchester United 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur: FA Cup semi-final – as it happened Read more
But in a heated atmosphere Spurs required little time to warm up, Harry Kane having their first shot inside 30 seconds and Son Heung-min’s turn putting the United defence in trouble in the second minute. From the start United struggled to cope with the pace and intensity of their game and it was only when Tottenham, perhaps feeling a measure of comfort, gave the ball away deep inside their own half to allow their opponents a chance to score in the 24th minute that the pattern of the game changed.
The six changes José Mourinho had made for Wednesday’s visit to Bournemouth, and his side’s impressive display there, made his likely approach to this game difficult to predict but he reverted to a team similar to the one that lost miserably at home to West Brom last Sunday, with Phil Jones and Jesse Lingard preferred to Victor Lindelöf and Juan Mata. Tottenham similarly chose nine of the players who started the defeat by Manchester City at Wembley last Saturday, while Michel Vorm kept the place in goal he has held throughout their Cup run and Son replaced Érik Lamela.
Having dominated the early exchanges Spurs took the lead with a goal of humiliating simplicity. Ashley Young committed himself to pressing the ball deep inside the Tottenham half and Davinson Sánchez hit it long into the space the United left-back should have been covering. It was space that Christian Eriksen had all to himself, with Paul Pogba trailing lamely in his wake, and Dele Alli turned in his precise cross.
There could, in the minutes that followed, have been more. Son’s looping cross was just too long for Kane, and a low centre was cleared by Jones just as Alli looked set to score a second. Kane set up Eriksen for a shot that bounced across goal and wide, and Son’s effort hit Antonio Valencia.
United had not troubled Vorm until Kieran Trippier, with the ball on the right, turned down the chance to clear and instead passed to Mousa Dembélé, who instead of turning the ball into touch tried to jink past Paul Pogba and failed. From there the Frenchman spun and delivered a phenomenal centre that dipped on to Alexis Sánchez’s head and from there into the goal.
That moment gave United the encouragement to match their rivals’ intensity and the rest of the first half was much more even, ending with fine long-range shots from both sides, Pogba’s curler in the final minute being tipped past the post, and Eric Dier’s drive in stoppage time deflecting off Chris Smalling and thumping the base of David de Gea’s right-hand post.
Smalling also got himself in the way of Tottenham’s first notable shot of the second half, after Alli’s pass picked out Kane and the forward checked back on to his left foot before hitting a low effort that spun wide off the defender’s boot. That this took place nearly 14 minutes after the interval reflected a period of diminished pace and precision. But now it was United who were more often winning second balls and coming first in marginal races, and Spurs being pressed into errors.
Ander Herrera epitomised their improved work ethic in scoring United’s second goal, sprinting the length of the field before arriving on the edge of Tottenham’s penalty area with perfect timing. Sánchez’s pass from the left flicked Romelu Lukaku’s studs, was left by Lingard, and the Spaniard’s low drive flashed past Vorm.
After their poor start gradually all Mourinho’s key decisions were justified. Pogba claimed an assist and hit a couple of delicious long passes to Lukaku; Sánchez displayed the effervescence that marked his better displays at Arsenal. Spurs, increasingly frustrated, played at times as if their primary target was not United’s goal but Lingard’s ankles. In stoppage time United had a chance to burnish their success when Lukaku released Marcus Rashford, on as a second-half substitute, only for Eric Dier to dispossess him inside the penalty area. But if this victory was never comfortable, it was in the end convincing.
Jakarta - Babak I semifinal Piala FA antara Manchester United melawan Tottenham Hotspur sudah selesai. Saat turun minum, skornya masih sama kuat 1-1. Dalam pertandingan di Wembley, Sabtu (21/4/2018) malam WIB, Spurs bisa unggul pada menit ke-11. Dele Alli yang mencatatkan namanya di papan skor. Christian Eriksen menerima umpan panjang di sayap kanan, lalu mengirim crossing terukur. Alli, yang ada di muka gawang, bisa menceploskan bola ke dalam gawang. Usaha Eriksen di menit ke-17 masih belum membuahkan hasil. Bolanya masih menyamping dari gawang. Alexis Sanchez menyamakan kedudukan untuk MU. Dia mencetak gol itu pada menit ke-24. Paul pogba merebut bola dari Moussa Dembele di sisi sayap kiri, lalu mengirim umpan matang ke jantung pertahanan Tottenham. Bolanya disambar penyerang asal Chile itu masuk ke gawang. Jesse Lingard melewatkan peluang emas pada menit ke-27. Umpan silang matang Romelu Lukaku, gagal diarahkan masuk ke gawang. Heung-min Son mengancam gawang MU di menit ke-36. Tapi, dia sudah berdiri offside saat melakukan tendangan voli meneruskan umpan panjang Eriksen. Usaha Lukaku pada menit ke-43 masih belum membuahkan hasil. Tendangannya masih bisa diblok barisan belakang Spurs. Pogba mengancam pada menit ke-44. Tendangan jarak jauhnya sudah mengarah ke gawang, tapi ditepis oleh Vorm. Tendangan Eric Dier masih membentur tiang. Skor 1-1 bertahan hingga jeda. Susunan Pemain MU: De Gea, Young, Valencia, Jones, Smalling, Matic Herrera, Pogba, Sanchez, Lingard, Lukaku Tottenham: Vorm, Davies, Vertonghen, Sanchez, Trippier, Dier, Dembele, Son, Alli, Eriksen, Kane
It’s happened again. Manchester United and Jose Mourinho did what they’ve done for most of their history by displaying the resilience to win a big game, Tottenham Hotspur and Mauricio Pochettino did what they’ve done for most of theirs by showing such fragility to lose one.
The season won’t now end with the Argentine winning his first trophy, but might well see Mourinho claim his third at United, as this 2-1 comeback sends them back to Wembley for the FA Cup final. They now look in the right kind of spirit to win it. They have the purpose, and have the conviction, as so perfectly displayed by the relentless Ander Herrera’s brilliant match-winner.
It also means their season still has meaning, and could still be a real success, something that is now much more debatable for Spurs.
That was what this match was about as much a place back at Wembley for the final, and Spurs’ history of underwhelming. For both clubs, it was about defying their recent histories and problems to give the season something tangible and positive beyond mere Champions League qualification, and to set the right tone for the future.
Dele Alli celebrates scoring Tottenham’s opener (Getty Images)
That future now suddenly looks that bit better for United.
Mourinho was right. As he has repeatedly said over the past week, he knows how to win. Pochettino, meanwhile, was wrong. The Spurs manager had argued that winning the FA Cup “won’t change our lives” but failing to win it does change the perception of the campaign.
Consider this: it is the first season under Pochettino that hasn’t shown tangible and statistical improvement; that hasn’t seen a step forward. That is why they really needed to win this FA Cup. There is suddenly a sense they are plateauing.
Pochettino might continue to argue that the FA Cup doesn’t mean all that, but this was about more than the trophy. It should also be all the more frustrating because of how they plateaued in the game itself, given how brilliantly they started.
Harry Kane gets on the ball (Getty Images)
Rather than carry it, though, it was United that showed them how to really get through such matches. They also showed something that is now becoming a very evident quality in this team: a proper, Mourinho-driven resilience.
Wins like this don’t mean all the issues go away, and there is a question as to why it seems they need to go behind to get on the front foot, but no one can question them for what happens when they do go behind. There is a real fortitude here, one that was so impressive in this semi-final because of how under pressure they were.
Through that, the opening half-hour didn’t just set the game, but also summed so many issues of their seasons.
United had also started as flatly as the games against West Brom and Manchester City, with Spurs as pumped as in the wins over Chelsea and Mourinho’s side. Pochettino’s team were so dominant at that point that they could genuinely been out of sight within the first 20 minutes. They had that many chances, looked that dangerous.
Alexis Sanchez celebrates scoring United’s equaliser ( AFP /Getty Images)
The contrast became so conspicuous for the opening goal, and was particularly clear between the two playmakers. As Pogba bizarrely strolled back, Christian Eriksen ran onto a perfect Davdson Sanchez ball before offering a supreme delivery of his own. The power was matched by the precision, and was met by the purpose of Dele Alli.
Through that goal, and that opening 20 minutes, you could see why Mourinho has been so frustrated with this team; why it is said that executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward is fully behind any decision he takes regarding the squad.
It wasn’t long, however, until you could also see why United are in second place in the league; why there is optimism about the Portuguese’s regime.
And this was the frustration for Spurs. They were levelling United – but it would only take one goal to go back level. It wasn’t long coming. United – and especially Pogba – seemed to wake up. The French star’s languidness suddenly became a virtue, but was now reinforced by proper muscle.
Ander Herrera fires in United’s winning strike (Getty)
Pogba simply brushed the oddly under-performing Mousa Dembele off the ball, before clipping a supreme cross of his own in for Sanchez. The Chilean took the chance brilliantly.
This was the frustration for Spurs, but also for United, since it was a show of what they – and Pogba – can do when they get their act together.
It didn’t just bring United back into the game, though. It also brought their game back up to speed. They were now stifling Spurs, principally through winning most of the big 50-50s. There was real conviction to United now.
And there certainly was to Herrera’s finish. Although the selection of Michel Vorm may now come under question as the ball went under him, that was probably down to the purity of the strike.
There was none of that from Spurs, other than maybe from Eriksen or Heung-Min Son. Their impetus was always going to be ineffective, however, when Dembele and Harry Kane were so off their game.
It was difficult to know who was playing worse, but easy to see the negative effect on the side. It got to the point where Pochettino had no option but to remove Dembele for Victor Wanyama.
That was far too little far too late. It said much that Spurs hadn’t created a single chance of note after the 25th minute.
They’ve now squandered another chance of a trophy. United have shown them how it’s done.
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