By Razeen Gutta
Manchester United beat Brighton by the finest of margins to set-up a Derby Day FA Cup final clash with their rivals Manchester City.
The writing was on the wall for a City-United final, but Brighton were more than ready to cause an upset at Wembley on Sunday.
Roberto De Zerbi’s side began proceedings excellently, with Alexis McAllister coming close with an early free kick.
United kept more of the ball as the game went on but Brighton matched them for attempts on and off target with both sides only really struggling in front of goal.
Marcus Rashford played the entirety of the two hours after coming back from injury, but even he could not find the back of the net despite coming close in extra time.
Brighton have failed to score four times out of their six appearances at the iconic Wembley; and have never won at the national team’s stadium either.
It looked as though it was about to change once the game went the distance, with all six of their opening penalty takers finding the net.
Unfortunately for the Seagulls, though, United matched all their goals with successful strikes of their own; and their winless streak was brought to an end when Solly March eventually blasted his spot kick over the bar and Victor Lindelof scored for the Red Devils.
It finished 7-6 on penalties.
Erik ten Hag’s side have secured two domestic cup finals in a single season for only the third time in the club’s history; and they now have a shot at winning the double come 3 June.
Pictured above: Victor Lindelof
Image source: @ManUtd
