Man United penalty joy as they knock out Brighton to reserve a place in the FA Cup Final

Manchester United have booked a place in the FA Cup Final 2023 against neighbours Manchester City in what is the very first derby to be played in the competition.

United in not so confident mood after the calamity against Seville took on Brighton a team you perhaps would not expect to be playing in the semi-final of the FA Cup, the game was average at best with De Gea making some good saves to keep United in the game.

With the amount of injuries United have it is going to be difficult for manager Ten Hag to get his Manchester United team back to the level they have previously been playing, still the same United tried to create goals during the second half of the game.

As the clock ticked towards full time Ten Hag brought on substitutions, it was odd though how Fernandez came off when he was keeping the United team ticking along although admittedly he did start to fade, bringing on unfit players was a desperate measure from Ten Hag.

United had failed to find the net despite some good chances in the second half and the referee blew his whistle for full time and the tired looking team had to play an extra 30 minutes something they didn’t need remembering Brighton players will be much fresher.

Despite Brighton feeling fresher as they had no midweek game United managed to defend well and both teams did not find the back of the net which meant a penalty shootout.

For the fans of other teams watching at home this must have been fairly exciting, for fans of United and Brighton this was a nervous time, all the nail biting started and the penalty shoot out began.

Both teams scored every penalty with ease until Brighton player March came up to take his penalty and booted the ball over the cross bar, United players and fans all around the world went crazy, the calamity of the game in Seville forgotten and now they take on neighbours Manchester City.

Despite United’s rollercoaster ride of a season they could end up with both domestic cups and a place in the UEFA Champions League next season.

With the uncertainty off the field with the Glazers seemingly messing around with the sale of the club all Ten Hag can do is concentrate on the team and getting big named players fit and keeping them that way which will give United the biggest chance of success.

Ten Hag so far has shown he is the man to lead United to success however with off the field uncertainty he will need several new players in the summer to add to the team and it is expected this time around Ten Hag will off load some of them and perhaps one of those players with be Maguire.