Manchester United will be fighting for another trophy! That is the epilogue of the first FA Cup semifinal match which Jose Mourinho’s team won 2-1 against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday afternoon, through Alexis Sanchez and Ander Herrera goals, coming back from a goal down.
It was Dele Alli who scored early on after Christian Eriksen found him from the right to tap it in from a few yards. The victory means United will have a chance to finish another season with silverware, after they won FA Cup in 2015-16 and League Cup and Europa League in 2016-17.
Manchester United Show Experience In Comeback
This was a match that slightly resembled a certain match from May 2017. It was a Europa League final in Stockholm. Ajax were the team that played with style and swagger through the knockout rounds and were probably the neutrals’ favourites to win the trophy, their first European trophy since 1995. Yet, Mourinho plotted a typical Mourinho-esque victory, winning comfortably 2-0 without ever doing too much, but stopping opponents in doing anything at all.
It was not the same case on Saturday, but it was similar. Tottenham went head and were on the up, but United ever since seemed comfortable and waiting for their chances. They came and the Devils took them. The first 15 minutes of the second half lacked any kind of rhythm but it was in right after that spell that United scored their second and comfortably finished the match off.
Ander Herrera Doing Everything Right
This was a match in which Ander Herrera truly shined. He scored the winning goal after 62 minutes, getting on the end of Romelu Lukaku’s poor control of the ball to shoot from the first touch under goalkeeper Vorm’s right arm. However, it was not only the goal that made his performance great.
The Spaniard was there to clear the danger on several occasions and was meticulous in his defensive work, stopping Dele Alli and helping Valencia with Heung Min Son. He won most of his duels and also sprayed the ball around nicely, few times even finding the wingers with long balls. A well-rounded performance indeed.
Spurs Lack Gut In Key Matches
Similar story again. For all their qualities, for all the talent they have, Tottenham Hotspur tend too often to mess things up when the big occasion arrives. Last season they lost 4-2 to Chelsea at the same stage of the competition. This season, they fell to Juventus in Champions League first knockout round, being the better team during 165 of 180 minutes played.
This time, they started very well, with high-energy press, troubling United to even get out of their own half during opening minutes. Spurs even managed to score after 11 minutes as United’s defensive frailties on the left of the back four were evident, but that was still not enough. After the first half hour, they never truly looked to be in the match, having problems to getting to the grips of it. Mourinho’s boys controlled everything, while Harry Kane was far from looking sharp.
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