Manchester United win FA Cup final with 2-1 victory over Manchester City
Manchester United won the FA Cup for the first time in eight years after beating rivals Manchester City 2-1 at Wembley.
Goals from Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo fired United into a commanding first-half lead on what proved to be a rare off-day for Premier League champions City.
Jeremy Doku halved the deficit late on to set up a nail-biting finish but it wasn't enough as United held on for victory.
For Erik ten Hag, it was a welcome result despite his expected imminent departure, after reports on Friday that United were set to sack their manager regardless of the outcome.
Regarding his future at Old Trafford, Ten Hag said: "I don’t know. The only thing I’m doing is preparing my team, developing my team, progressing my team and individual players. To me this is a project. When I came here it was a mess, we know better but we are by far not where we want to be.
"Football is about winning trophies, I want to play the best football and at the end it is about winning games and trophies and that’s the mentality we’ve brought in.
On Saturday's shock win, he said: "The team showed so much resilience and I am proud of them."
Pep Guardiola opted for a changed centre-back partnership from City's final league day victory over West Ham, with John Stones and Nathan Ake replacing Ruben Dias and Manuel Akanji.
United lined up in an adjusted 4-3-3 as Marcus Rashford featured centrally alongside Bruno Fernandes and Garnacho in their front line. Raphaël Varane was drafted in to replace Casemiro in the centre of defence.
Despite the bouncing Wembley atmosphere pre-match, it was a contest that started at a slow pace with chances lacking at both ends of the pitch.
That was until United were gifted the opener by a defensive mix-up on the half hour mark. Josko Gvardiol's attempted cushioned header to Stefan Ortega went over the goalkeeper and allowed Garnacho to tap in to an empty net.
With City far from their best, United capitalised by adding a second before the break. A tidy passing move was finished off by the outstanding Kobbie Mainoo after Bruno Fernandes found him unmarked at close range.
Akanji and Doku were brought on at the break as City looked to find a way back in, but the second-half was a continuation of the first as the usual free-flowing football associated with this side remained absent.
Yet they fired a warning shot when Erling Haaland rifled an effort onto the crossbar from Doku's low cross before the hour mark.
Julián Álvarez was brought on in place of the quiet Kevin De Bruyne as Guardiola looked to find a way back in, and the forward saw their best opportunity of the game shortly after but slid his effort wide under pressure when bearing down on André Onana's goal.
The first signs of frustrations began to show from those in blue when both sets of players clashed in the final 20 minutes - Kyle Walker accusing Lisandro Martínez of taking too long to leave the pitch when subbed off.
That flash point didn't look like it would inspire City to find a route back in, that was until substitute Doku's bobbling low shot found a way past Onana in the final moments of normal time.
City though could not create a genuine chance during seven added minutes as their season ended with a surprise defeat to United, who followed up their Carabao Cup victory last February in what many believe will be ten Hag's swan song.
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