Manchester United 2-1 Manchester City (FA Cup Final)
The FA Cup final, now 143 years old, it's a once very special event in the English football calendar when winning stuff and silverware mattered, now superseded by the all-important millions in money to be earned by just surviving the Premier League.
I'm old enough to remember when they used to dedicate a whole day for it. Saint & Greavsie and Grandstand interviewing the players before they left their Hertfordshire hotels all nervously suited and booted, the bus journey filmed from a chopper above as it made its way down the Circular with a police guard towards the twin towers.
These days the only reason the chopper is in the sky is to look out for potential trouble from the fans. An all Manchester derby however has no trouble but loving families split in sky blue and red, no nonsense bar Mancunian banter, the underdogs are once the biggest club in the world, the favourites, the noisy neighbours, now the best and richest on the planet there is.
The Venue
It's my last Club Wembley appearance after seven years a member, I'm taking the wife for her final padded seat experience under the giant arch with an all you can eat and drink buffet. The stadium one of the best and most iconic in the world, for me is the best I’ve ever been in. The service and food shatters anything I've had at any other stadium, all be it not one for the purists, more for the theatre goer and wine bar drinker perhaps, it’s certainly not like the old days of cigarette smoke and shoving under the crowded terraces?
I love it here, the walk to the ground through chicken shop crappy suburbia North West London which improves the closer you get, to Designer Outlet territory with mainstream chain restaurants, over priced hotels and high rise apartments that now dwarf the stadium, a modern metropolis.
Inside the ground is magical, from my corporate middle row view behind the goal a sea of sky blue in the end we are in, opposite all red beneath the sun, the West Stand I have sat in for seven long years always gets the shade, the East Stand is the one where you need to wear the shades, my wife tells me every time we are here "we should have chosen opposite sides" just so she could have sat in the sun.
The Game
I was here last year when United gave it a go but we're well undone by superior opponents and as the same cast do battle again twelve months later, more of the same is expected today, Erik ten Hag having a pretty rough time of it of late, United often toothless beneath him, win or lose he faces the chop, Pep Guardiola has won it all with City, his eyes on the double, his seat firmly secure regardless of result.
But, against the odds it's United who start best. A horrendous error by Gvardiol sees his headed back pass cut short, Garnacho capitalises and puts the red half of the stadium one up. City aren’t firing, they look tired and jaded as United punch harder, they're up for it today, giving everything on the pitch, which is somewhat surprising following past form of late, Rashford swirls a pass to Garnacho left to right, he plays in Fernandes and his no look pass finds Mainoo, the teenager buries home for number two, an iconic Wembley cup final goal.
The Score
We're in for a bottle of bud and glass of prosecco during the break as the United fans bemuse on their powering first half performance. All they need to do is repeat their dominance and a famous victory is theirs, a second half display has them organised and solid, hard to break down, City knock at the door but no one answers, it seems ten Hag has today done his homework. Pep is out of ideas.
A long shot however by Doku creeps in past Onana's near post, low, on 87, the Cameroon goalkeeper up until then had been good, but a nervy few moments are short of City quality, United hold on and the celebrations begin.
The Stars
Two teenagers in Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo steel the show with goals and assured performances beyond their years. Marcus Rashford had been recently cut from Gareth Southgate’s England squad but on that outing against one of the best full backs in the world in Kyle Walker, Rashford still has a lot to offer.
An unlikely hero is Sofyan Amrabat who in centre midfield throws is body on the line upon countless opportunity, Lisandro Martinez back in the back line is a huge improvement to their team, the United performances player for player are eleven out of ten.
For City, largely disappointing, they kept the ball, as standard, but failed to break down their opponent, but for the lively Belgian substitute Jeremy Doku late on, the United win would have been more convincing.
The Verdict
Has the win done enough to keep ten Hag his job? That question is for another day, but tonight is about celebrating, United beating their nemesis to win the FA Cup, the Red Devils are partying into the night and I’ll be joining them, as I would have done, even if City had won.
The Teams
Manchester United: Andre Onana, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Raphael Varane, Lisandro Marinez (Jonny Evans 73), Diogo Dalot, Kobbie Mainoo, Sofyan Amrabat, Alejandro Garnacho (Mason Mount 90), Marcus Rashford (Rasmus Hojlund 74), Bruno Fernandes, Scott McTominay (Victor Lindelof 90).
Manchester City: Stefan Ortega, Kyle Walker, John Stones, Nathan Ake (Manuel Akanji 46), Josko Gvardiol, Rodri, Mateo Kovacic (Jeremy Doku 46), Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne (Julian Alvarez 56), Phil Foden, Erling Haaland.
3:00pm Kick Off. Saturday 25th May 2024, Wembley Stadium, London (att 84,814).
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