FA Cup Final: Manchester City, Manchester United Make History

The 2023-2024 FA Cup final will be played between bitter rivals Manchester City and Manchester United on May 25, 2024.

Recall that Manchester City beat Manchester United to win the FA Cup in 2023, and the two teams are meeting in the FA Cup final again this season. This makes them the first sides to meet in the final of the tournament in two successive seasons. The first time this happened was in 1885.

Manchester City had a very difficult ride to the FA Cup final this season as they had to face Chelsea in the semi-finals barely three days after playing against Real Madrid in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League.

Recall that Real Madrid knocked out Manchester City from the Champions League after playing extra time and a penalty shootout.

Despite going through such a rigorous match and the emotional rollercoaster of failing to progress in the competition, coach Pep Guardiola and his team beat Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-finals a few days later.

Bernardo Silva scored the only goal that made the difference in the game in the 84th minute. With the 1-0 win over Chelsea, Manchester City maintain their hope of winning the English Premier League and the FA Cup this season.

As for Manchester United, they played against Championship side Coventry in a game they were expected to easily win at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, April 21.

During the game, Coventry came from two goals down to draw Manchester United 3-3 within 25 minutes.

After extra time, the two teams were forced into a penalty shootout, which ended 2-4 in favour of Manchester United.

After Manchester United’s abysmal performance against the Championship side, Red Devils coach Erik ten Hag told ITV that the game was “incredible” and “strange.”

He continued: “We had total control for so long and then gave it away in the last part of the game. We did show resilience to win the penalty shootout.

“We have to improve. We talk a lot about this. First, you have to put yourself in a winning position but then you have to take it over the line.”