MANCHESTER UNITED’s stunning penalty win over Coventry in the FA Cup final broke a 139 year old record.
The Red Devils were 3-0 up against the Championship side before they suffered a stunning collapse to take the game into extra-time and penalties.
Erik ten Hag’s side held their nerve in the shootout to reach the final, although pundits believe the clock is ticking over his future regardless.
Amidst the chaos at Wembley, Man Utd did manage to break a long standing record with their win.
The record is also held by Manchester City, who United meet in the final after they overcame Chelsea on Saturday.
For the first time in 139 years, we will see two sides compete in back-to-back FA Cup finals.
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The Manchester derby rivals will square up on May 25 for a rematch of their Wembley clash last season, which Pep Guardiola’s side won 2-1 on the way to landing themselves a Treble.
It is only the second time in the competition’s history this has happened.
The last time – all the way back in 1884 and 1885 – saw Blackburn taking on Queen’s Park Rangers at the Kennington Oval in London.
Blackburn won the first match up 2-1, with goals from Joe Sowerbutts and Jimmy Forrest landing them their first FA Cup gong despite Robert M Chrsitie’s goal for QPR.
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Blackburn also ran out 2-0 winners against QPR on the second occasion in 1885 courtesy of goals from Forrest and James Brown.
And it may be a bad omen for Man Utd as history threatens to repeat itself.
The Red Devils, who are 12 time winners of the oldest cup competition in the world, have not lifted the FA Cup since 2016 under Louis van Gaal.
They have made two finals since then; with Jose Mourinho in 2018 when they lost 1-0 to Chelsea and with Ten Hag last year.
Man City meanwhile have won it seven times, with three of them coming since 2011.
It was announced ahead of the semi-finals that replays after the first round proper would be getting scrapped, much to the dismay of furious clubs in the lower leagues.
Why FA Cup changes are GOOD NEWS
By Martin Lipton
THE FA and Premier League should have done the deal to scrap FA Cup replays years ago.
No doubt traditionalists will moan but it is right that the competition has finally been brought into the 21st century.
Ending replays will bring extra sharpness and excitement to the ties, with the knowledge that there will be a winner, whether in 90 minutes, extra-time or penalties.
If big guns have a bad day, they are more likely to pay the price. Replays after draws give them a fall-back they do not deserve.
Giving the FA Cup total and absolute priority over four weekends – and ensuring there is no competing match on the day of the Final – will enhance the profile of a competition that was in danger of falling out of the spotlight.
And as long as the FA ensures a better split of the prize money fund, weighting it more towards the earlier rounds, and potentially a similar move with TV match money, there should be few losers.
Read more on the FA Cup by clicking here.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
