Luke Shaw has become the latest Manchester United player to deliver his reaction as the Reds progress into their second domestic cup final of the season.
Erik ten Hag’s men have set up a historic FA Cup final against Manchester City in June after a highly dramatic semi-final win over Brighton and Hove Albion at Wembley.
United ensured their airtight defensive record was intact after 120 minutes but their struggles in front of goal also continued, with the game ending scoreless after extra-time.
Both sides were composed from 12 yards but Solly March, the Brighton star, missed his side’s seventh spot-kick, handing Victor Lindelof a golden opportunity to become the hero.
The 28-year-old made no mistake in front of the Brighton half of Wembley, firing the ball into the top corner and securing a third trip to Wembley for the season.
Lindelof was one half of a stunning centre-back partnership on the day, with left-back Luke Shaw deputising beside him as Lisandro Martinez, Raphael Varane and Harry Maguire were all unavailable.
It’s a role Shaw has played before this season and he executed it to perfection once more. Speaking after the game, the England man admitted that he would have changed the penalty shootout line-up if he could, arguing that he does not like waiting to see if a decisive spot-kick came down to him.
“I think I’d have rather been in the first half of the penalty takers,” Shaw is quoted as saying by the Manchester Evening News.
“It’s never nice waiting and waiting, knowing your time is soon. I was confident anyways, if I had to step up, I thought I’d score, but luckily enough, Victor [Lindelof] put it away.
“He won it for us. We’ve practised them a lot in training and Victor has a beautiful technique. When he was stepping up, I was confident he wouldn’t miss. I think so [fitness levels good] and maybe that shows on Thursday night we didn’t do enough.
“I think that was clear to see, but we knew we had to bounce back and that competition, the Europa League, was so important to us and we lost it ourselves, but we obviously want the FA Cup too and this was a big game against a good side.
“We had to give everything today and I’m really happy for the team that we’re in another final.”
SN’s verdict…
It goes without saying that United were far better on Sunday than against Sevilla earlier this week. It would have been hard to deliver a worse performance.
It was absolutely paramount that United did not let the misery from that game compound and potentially derail their season. Now, they have another cup final to look forward to and the jubilant scenes after the latest cup win should be enough motivation.
The opposition is another sweet twist to the story as United could potentially end Manchester City’s hunt for a treble.
