The spirit was strong, the shooting was not
And the goalkeeping was a scandal. A look at what went wrong, and right, at Wembley
FIVE ASIDES FA Cup Final: City 2, United 1
Success has many fathers, they say. And so does failure. Why did United lose the Cup Final? Because they conceded in the first minute. Because David de Gea had another bad day. Because someone at City, probably Pep Guardiola, had a bright idea: we’ll surprise them by going long from the kick-off. Because Fred gave away a needless free kick in a dangerous area. Because Kevin De Bruyne took that free kick and he saw that United had nobody marking the man on the edge of the box. Because, in open play, there was only one marksman who made his mark, and his name was Ilkay Gundogan. In three trips to Wembley this season, amounting to five hours, against three good teams – Newcastle, Brighton and City – United didn’t let any other individual score against them. Gundogan rose to the big occasion, faster than anyone else had ever done in the Cup Final. The first goal was, you have to admit, a classic; the second was a mis-hit that happened to end up in the net.
Twelve seconds in, De Gea wasn’t playing football: he was playing musical statues. For the second goal, he did at least move and get a fingertip to the ball, but he was slow to react, perhaps unsighted by the traffic in the box. The problem is that this wasn’t his only problem. After City had gone long and scored, De Gea kept going long too, and not one of his first five or six kicks reached a red shirt. The policy seemed to be just hoof -and-hope. His kicking did get better and he made one good save, but overall he was outshone by City’s No 2 keeper. As we’ve said before, it’s time to let De Gea go, with many thanks and a big testimonial.
United showed some fighting spirit. ‘Calm,’ Casemiro could be seen saying after the calamitous first quarter-minute. His team-mates did well to practise what he preached and withstand the light-blue tide for the rest of the first half. And they did even better to be the stronger team for the last 20 minutes of the match. Luke Shaw finally got forward and curled in some crosses. Marcus Rashford, who spent those 20 minutes in a wacky job-share with Wout Weghorst, used his freedom to find some neat pockets of space. By the end, United had had 13 shots to City’s 11, and had made better use of what possession they had (26 passes per shot, to City’s 46). But their accuracy had been worse (three shots on target to City’s five) and it had taken a stroke of luck for United to get a goal – the kind of penalty they would have been outraged by had it been given against them. Bruno Fernandes did well to keep calm and convert it, but then City bounced back after half-time and for a while United were swamped. They can be proud that they kept Erling Haaland quiet, although it may have been partly because they were concentrating so hard on him that Gundogan had space and time to win the trophy.
Erik ten Hag picked the right team. And the subs picked themselves, but unfortunately they didn’t send themselves on. Ten Hag could have been bolder introducing Alejandro Garnacho, who turned out to be United’s biggest threat with his rampaging chutzpah. It was obvious at half-time that neither Christian Eriksen nor Jadon Sancho was making much impression, and if Garnacho had come on then, Ten Hag would still have had three subbing opportunities to play with. Weghorst was just about worth a try, although Facundo Pellistri, who has a far better record of making an instant impact, might have wrought the same havoc on the right as Garnacho on the left. But the really baffling substitution came in the 83rd minute, when Scott McTominay replaced … Victor Lindelof. He had maintained his serene form, keeping Haaland at bay, and was even breaking into midfield, John Stones-style. As McTominay signalled to Rapha Varane to say “you’re now one-v-one with Haaland”, Varane looked dismayed, bordering on disgusted. McTominay was the right player to send on, but it should have been Fred going off, to allow United to stick with a shape that was suddenly working. Behind this minor detail, though, was a broader picture: only one side had injuries to contend with, and it was the one that could less afford them. United were missing one mainstay (Lisandro Martinez), one other starter (Anthony Martial), one regular who might have been on the bench (Antony) and one high-class sub (Marcel Sabitzer). If it had been a kids’ practice match, the coach would have told Haaland to swap sides.
How far behind City are United? About half as far as they were a year ago. While still looking much the lesser team, they have bridged about half of a yawning gulf. In the league they finished 14 points behind City, as against 35 last year; call it 17 as City dropped five points of the last six, once the title was in the bag. The goal-difference difference was only 46 this time, down from a frankly embarassing 73. City won five more league games in 2022-23 than United, who managed only one point from those five. But when you take into account that they were a shambles after two games, and that their three specialist centre-forwards were either not fit enough (Martial), not young enough (Cristiano Ronaldo) or not sharp enough (Weghorst), United have done well to make up this much ground on City. Facing them in a cup, they did a whole lot better than Bayern Munich or Real Madrid. In four competitions they finished first, second, third and about 12th, and even in the last one, the Europa, they were only beaten by the eventual winners. They can head off for the hardest-earned holiday of their lives with their heads held high.
Tim de Lisle is the editor of United Writing and a sportswriter for The Guardian. If you’re on Twitter, do follow him and United Writing. If you received this piece by email, please feel free to forward it to the nearest Red.