Manchester City beat Manchester United to win FA Cup and strike Double
Surely not again? Ilkay Gündogan had already hit one volley and what a volley it was, 13 seconds in, the ball flying into the Manchester United net to make him the fastest ever FA Cup final scorer.
Now, early in the second half, the Manchester City midfielder set himself again on the edge of the United box, Kevin De Bruyne having pulled back a free-kick into his sphere of influence. United were level at that point thanks to a Bruno Fernandes penalty – following a real letter-of-the-law handball decision against Jack Grealish on the half hour.
Gündogan’s opener had been with his right foot. This time, he allowed the ball to run across him before making the connection with his left and it was certainly not as true. It bounced once, rearing up over Raphaël Varane’s leg and then again before it reached the corner of the net via David de Gea’s out-stretched hand. The United goalkeeper had seen it late and he got across slowly.
City were back in the ascendancy and they were not likely to let it slip again, even if United did muster what passed for a late push. Varane smuggled a stoppage-time effort onto the crossbar and the substitute, Scott McTominay, headed the rebound over.
And so, as the wild celebrations gripped in the sky blue half of the stadium at full-time, City could reflect on completing part two of the treble, the ultimate one of the league, FA Cup and Champions League, which only United’s class of 99 have previously achieved.
That was what stung United the most. In the first ever all-Manchester FA Cup final, they had been cast as protectors of Ferguson’s greatest legacy but they will now be relying on Internazionale to beat City in next Saturday’s Champions League final in Istanbul.
Grealish had said a few weeks ago that, at this time of the season, Gündogan turns into “prime Zidane” and here was the latest evidence. It was the German’s double on the final day of last season’s Premier League that drove City to the title and he has been decisive on many other occasions. Surely, he cannot be allowed to leave on a free transfer?
The opening to the game had been extraordinary, Gündogan central, taking the kick-off. In almost the blink of an eye, he had sent a searing volley into the top corner from outside the area. There had been a punt forward from Stefan Ortega – preferred in goal to Ederson – a flick on, a clearing header from Victor Lindelöf and then there was Gündogan, moving smoothly onto the dropping ball, to sculpt a masterpiece. Cue pandemonium in the City end.
All of United’s pre-match worries, especially those of their fans, seemed to crystallise in that hammer blow. In the absence of the injured Antony and Anthony Martial, Erik ten Hag had started Fernandes on the right and Fred as the extra midfielder.
It felt like a plan to contain. Which was all United could do until the penalty, which came like a bolt out of the sky blue. City had flickered before it, confidence in their veins. Rodri headed just wide and there were a couple of Erling Haaland moments, the first when he slid to meet a fine Gündogan cross; he could not muster power in the first-time prod.
The penalty was a jaw-dropper in many ways. It was unexpected because United had barely entered the final third and also because nobody really saw anything amiss in real time after Aaron Wan-Bissaka had risen to head Fernandes’s diagonal back inside.
Images: Twitter
