Solly March missed the decisive penalty to help Man Utd produce one of the narrow football results of the weekend in the FA Cup. The Brighton winger was left inconsolable after the lone miss of 14 penalty kicks after a tight 120 minutes in which either team would have thought they would have been deserving of a rematch against Manchester City on June 3. As Brighton surged out of the gate, Alexis Mac Allister forced David De Gea to make a quick fingertip save from a free-kick. However, as United progressed during the first half, Bruno Fernandes and Anthony Martial both missed decent opportunities in stoppage time.
The Seagulls came close to scoring for the first time in the second quarter, but Julio Enciso, the hero against Chelsea the weekend before, was again stopped by a magnificent De Gea save before Danny Welbeck nodded over from a corner. The team of Erik Ten Hag had a final-second opportunity to win it, but replacement Jadon Sancho’s curling shot just missed the goal post. Following the scoring of each of the first 12 penalties in the subsequent shootout, March’s error allowed Victor Lindelof to convert the game-winning penalty kick and give United a chance to win. Marcus Rashford appeared to have scored in extra time as he flashed a shot past the goal with only Robert Sanchez to beat. However, Kaoru Mitoma’s hefty touch prevented him from scoring.
Brighton was hoping to reach the FA Cup final for the second time after losing to Manchester United in a rematch in their lone previous appearance 40 years previously. At Wembley, United started slowly and needed De Gea’s fingertips to prevent Mac Allister from scoring on an early free-kick. This was despite the fact that they had the added motivation of wanting to atone for their humiliating Europa League defeat on Thursday night in Seville. A series of injury stoppages hampered Brighton’s early impetus, but Man Utd could only force Sanchez to make a simple save on Fernandes’ curling attempt.
Roberto De Zerbi would have been the happier manager up until United massively increased the pressure in the waning seconds of the half and came perilously close to breaking the score. First, when Fernandes found himself clean through but fired wide, Martial’s lob drifted agonizingly wide with Sanchez off his line. Immediately after the break, Antony made a driving run and cut back towards Martial, which would have signaled an improvement for the previously nameless Brazilian, but the game swiftly reverted to the first half’s structure with Brighton controlling possession.
Enciso fired a quick, stinging first-time effort that De Gea diverted over after receiving a partially cleared corner. When he really ought to have scored, Welbeck then headed the second corner over from a few yards away. Similar to what had happened before the break, United started to take charge of the game with a lot of assistance from Fred’s entry. Fred’s tenacious work ultimately helped United start to control the midfield fight for the first time in the game. However, the only evidence of their increased dominance was Antony’s tough, low 20-yard attempt and substitute Sancho’s curler that just missed the bar.
It was not particularly surprising that the score was level after 90 minutes, exactly as it had been in Brighton’s FA Cup final versus Manchester United forty years before. While continuing, the parallels grew worse. Gordon Smith had missed a fantastic opportunity in the last seconds of extra time in Brighton’s season opener, and this time Mitoma’s heavy touch with just De Gea to beat denied him and the Seagulls the thrill of a last-second victory at Wembley. That was the closest either team came to winning in the following 30 minutes. Rashford should have performed better after defeating Joel Veltman, but instead, he mishit a powerful shot far wide.
With the exception of the result, the parallels ended when semi-final replays were discontinued more than 20 years ago. After 12 successful conversions, March’s attempt was unsuccessful, giving United the upper hand. Lindelof stepped up to lead his club into their second final of the year and repair some of the damage after they were humiliatingly eliminated from the Europa League by Sevilla on Thursday night. In the Premier League on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., Brighton visits Nottingham Forest. Tottenham will host Manchester United at home on Thursday at 8:15 p.m.
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