A 2-1 victory over Man Utd in the FA Cup final on the evening of June 3 helped Man City complete the double title this season.
For Man United and Man City, the encounter at Wembley was more than a final. MU must fight to protect the pride of the treble, while Man City stands in front of a better opportunity to recreate the feat in the 1998/99 season of the city’s rival.
When attention turned to Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne or Marcus Rashford, it was Ilkay Gundogan who decided the FA Cup final. The German midfielder sublimated with 2 long shots at the beginning of each half to help Man City win the FA Cup for the 7th time.
Pep Guardiola’s teachers and students are only one match away from the historic treble, which is the Champions League final against Inter on June 11.
With the strongest squad, the Premier League champions only need 12 seconds after the opening whistle to make the opponent tremble. From Kevin De Bruyne’s pass, Ilkay Gundogan hit a high-class finish from outside the penalty area, making David De Gea only watch the ball into the net. It was also the earliest goal in FA Cup final history.
MU’s defense was psychologically disturbed after the goal was conceded too soon. In the 4th minute, De Gea once again gave up. Luck was on the side of “Red Devils”, when Rodri’s header narrowly missed the post.
Man City’s pressing ability made “neighbors” unable to get on the ball in the next minutes. The “Red Devils” can only look for opportunities from long passes but at the top, Rashford cannot escape the pursuit of Ruben Dias or Kyle Walker, the world’s top one-on-one defenders.
In the stalemate, Man United was suddenly awarded a penalty after a situation where the ball touched his hand in the penalty area of Jack Grealish. From a distance of 11 m, Bruno Fernandes calmly successfully made a penalty to equalize for MU, when the clock turned to 32 minutes.
Hope was rekindled by MU but soon extinguished by Man City at the beginning of the second half. In the 52nd minute, Gundogan once again shone with a dangerous finish from outside the penalty area. De Gea poured all his people but could not save the “Red Devils”.
In the 2nd time leading, MU had no chance to rise up. Rashford, Sancho were blocked by Man City’s defense, while in the middle of Bruno, Eriksen disappointed with a series of broken passes. In the face of an urgent situation, coach Ten Hag was forced to throw a “trump card” Garnacho into the field from the 61st minute. However, the young Argentinian star could not make a difference. What MU did in the second half was only the narrow shots of Rashford, Garnacho, and Casemiro.
2-1 in favor of Man City is the score of the 2022/23 FA Cup final. Man United ended the season with a trophy, the Carabao Cup.
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