Two desperate for Cup success
MANCHESTER United and Tottenham Hotspur can claim to have had seasons of progress but the FA Cup, in which they meet in Sunday’s semifinal, remains their only chance of ending the campaign with silverware.
The sides meet at Wembley Stadium, nominally a neutral venue even if Spurs have been playing their home games at the stadium this season.
At the start of the season some questioned whether Spurs would feel at home at Wembley but defender Jan Vertonghen believes Spurs are certainly at ease in the arena.
“Wembley is definitely not a disadvantage,” the Belgian said.
“We’re used to it now, even if the atmosphere will be a bit different because United will bring more supporters than usual.
“We feel very comfortable, we’ve shown that over the last couple of months. Hopefully we can have the same game as at the beginning of this year when we beat United in a very positive way,” referring to the 2-0 Premier League win in January.
Although Spurs have continued to play entertaining football and improve under Argentine manager Mauricio Pochettino, they have yet to win a trophy in his time at the club but Vertonghen believes an FA Cup triumph could be a launch-pad for more success.
“This team and club deserves a trophy for all the work we’ve put in,” he said.
“You just need that belief you can do it and then they will come. We’re full of confidence we can do it.”
United bounced back from a shock 1-0 home Premier League loss to bottom club West Bromwich Albion with a convincing 2-0 win at Bournemouth yesterday to consolidate second place in the table.
“The players were good,” United manager Jose Mourinho said.
“It was a good professional performance with good effort. There was desire to score and a desire to cope with the defensive responsibilities.”
The other semi-final on Sunday pits Antonio Conte’s Chelsea against relegationthreatened Southampton.
Chelsea, fifth in the league, also has motivation to win the trophy given its title defence ended with it facing the possibility of missing Champions League football next season.
Mark Hughes’s Saints will take a welcome break from their dogfight against the drop as they seek their first appearance in the FA Cup final since their 2003 loss to Arsenal.