MAN UNITED MAKES NARROW ESCAPE
SHOOTOUT VICTORY ERASES FA CUP COLLAPSE AGAINST SECOND-TIER CHALLENGER COVENTRY
It was nearly a comeback for the ages for Coventry.
Instead, it ended in another gut-wrenching penalty shootout loss at Wembley for the second-tier team as Manchester United limped into another FA Cup final.
Coventry pulled off one of the most unexpected comebacks in FA Cup history by rallying from three goals down against United to force extra time after a 3-3 draw in Sunday’s semifinal, only to falter at the end and let Erik ten Hag’s team escape with a 4-2 win in the shootout.
Rasmus Hojlund scored the decisive penalty kick to save United from another embarrassing collapse after Callum O’hare and Ben Sheaf had missed their spot kicks for Coventry.
“It was an incredible game, a strange game, too,” ten Hag said. “We had total control for so long and then gave it away in the last part of the game. We did show resilience to win the penalty shootout.”
It was another heartbreaking ending at Wembley for Coventry, who lost on penalties to Luton in last year’s Championship playoff final to miss out on promotion to the Premier League.
United’s narrow escape sets up a second straight Manchester derby in the final against defending champion Manchester City, who beat Chelsea on Saturday.
But it should never have been this close.
United looked to be cruising toward the final after Bruno Fernandes’ deflected shot put them ahead 3-0 in the 58th minute against a Championship side that had defied the odds just to make the semifinals.
But Coventry is no stranger to comebacks, having scored twice in injury time to beat Wolverhampton in the quarterfinals, and staged an even greater rally this time to set off wild celebrations in the sky blue half of Wembley.
Striker Ellis Simms gave the Championship side a glimmer of hope by sweeping home a cross from Fabio Tavares in the 71st minute.
O’hare netted the second with the help of a lucky deflection in the 79th minute and Haji Wright equalized from the penalty spot in the fifth minute of injury time after a handball by Aaron Wan-bissaka.
United had taken the lead in the 23rd minute when Scott Mctominay had an easy tap-in into an empty net. Harry Maguire then headed in the second United goal from a corner to secure what seemed like a comfortable
halftime lead, which soon looked insurmountable after Fernandes’ shot took a deflection to sneak inside the near post for United’s third.
But no lead seems safe for this United side.
This was a second late collapse in a matter of weeks after United gave up two injury-time goals in a 4-3 Premier League loss to Chelsea this month, when ten Hag called on his team to learn how to close out games. They showed no signs of having learned that lesson, and Coventry came the closest to netting the winner in extra time against a shell-shocked United.
United’s players hardly
even celebrated when Hojlund’s decisive penalty went in, with only Christian Eriksen running over to celebrate with his fellow Dane. Most of the players remained by the halfway line, almost sheepishly shaking hands with the Coventry players — knowing how close they had come to one of the club’s most embarrassing losses.
Josip Stanisic scored in stoppage time for champion Bayer Leverkusen to preserve the team’s German record unbeaten run with a 1-1 draw at Borussia Dortmund in Bundesliga action on Sunday.
Leverkusen substitute Florian Wirtz sent in a corner that Stanisic headed to equalize in the seventh minute of stoppage time, stretching the visitors’ unbeaten start to the season to 45 games across all competitions.
Leverkusen, who clinched their first Bundesliga title last weekend, were heading toward their first defeat since the final day of last season when Niclas Fullkrug scored for Dortmund in the 81st minute.
“Our goal is to complete the season unbeaten,” Leverkusen midfielder Granit Xhaka said.
Xabi Alonso’s team, which has also reached the German Cup final, faces Roma in the Europa League semifinals with the first leg in Rome on May 2.
Marvin Ducksch scored twice for Werder Bremen to beat Stuttgart 2-1 and end the visitors’ 11-game run without a loss in the league
Ducksch dispatched a penalty in the 28th minute, then scored again early in the second half for Bremen to take a big step away from the relegation zone.
Germany forward Deniz Undav scored late for Stuttgart but couldn’t prevent the visitors’ first league loss since January, when the team lost 1-0 at Bochum.
Stuttgart remained third, on course for Champions League qualification, despite the loss.
Bremen moved eight points clear of Mainz, who held the relegation playoff spot before they played later at Freiburg.