Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal acknowledged his side was lucky to score in the last minute against Everton but deserved to reach the final of the FA Cup.
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Rooney was once more deployed in a deeper role by Van Gaal, with teenager Marcus Rashford preferred in the lone strike position, and the United captain feels he was able to bring a calming influence to the second half after Everton snatched an equaliser through Chris Smalling’s own goal.
Here, Press Association Sport looks at five things we learned from the tie.
But with extra time looming, Anthony Martial drilled a low shot past Everton keeper Joel Robles to send United into a record-equalling 19th FA Cup final. We need to be right at the top of the league again. After a poor start, Everton battled back admirably but ultimately they did not have enough, and the Spaniard may well now be left wondering what the future holds for him.
The pressure intensified on Martinez after Everton lost Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final against Manchester United at Wembley.
“We are a big club”.
The final, with United on course to lift the trophy for the first time since 2004, would be a silver lining even if there are no guarantees he will still be in the job next season.
But his display here was a clear demonstration that the 22-year-old is by no means the finished article.
David de Gea saved Romelu Lukaku’s penalty, as it happened, one of several possible turning points in the game, though Van Gaal denied that his goalkeeper’s reputation put penalty-takers at a disadvantage. After it went 1-1, we showed our mental spirit.
The last time the Red Devils appeared in an FA Cup final was the 2006-07 season, where they narrowly lost out to Chelsea, and they last won the FA Cup in 2003-04 after beating Millwall 3-0.
This season we felt hard done by in the semi-final of the League Cup to stop us getting to Wembley and we didn’t stop until we came back.
He said: “I’ve known for a few years”.
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“We have played in three competitions – I think we are the team who have played the most matches in this season”. “In the second half, I thought we built up incredible tempo and intensity to impose ourselves on the game but at the end the whole story becomes very heartbreaking”.
