FA Cup
Ahead of first ever Manchester derby FA Cup final, Erik ten Hag vows to stop Man City’s treble bid
Next month presents a new stage for the FA Cup as the two Manchester rival clubs clash in their first ever derby final match.
With Manchester United missing out in their triple title chase this season, they intend voiding their city rivals from achieving such.
But for last week’s disastrous outing at Sevilla, Manchester United were eying the Europa League Cup to add to the Carabao Cup they havd won and also keeping the FA Cup in view.
Now they can only hope to win two titles this season as the FA Cup is the only other realistic title they can win in addition to the earlier League Cup.
But their local rivals, tagged the ‘noisy neighbours’ in the glorious era of Sir Alex Fergusson, Manchester City still have three trophies in sight.
They could still upstage front-runners, Arsenal in the Premier League title race. They are still in the Champions League where they are semi-finalists and also finalists in the FA Cup.
Their local rivals with no realistic chance of winning the Premiership are laying ambush at the FA Cup final.
Erik ten Hag , according to ESPN said that Manchester United “will give everything” to stop Manchester City replicating their 1999 Treble after reaching the FA Cup final.
City have the Premier League title, the Champions League and the FA Cup in their sights this season, but will have to beat neighbours United in the FA Cup final on June 3 if they want to win all three trophies.
And Ten Hag, has reassured fans they will do everything to stop City winning the cup and with it preserve United’s record as the only English team to win the Treble.
“We will give everything and when I say everything, that is everything, more than 100 percent you can’t do, the fans can rely on that.” Ten Hag said. “We want to give that against City, we want to give the fans that. “We have to play the perfect game, it was the perfect game we played this season, we have to go again, we know that.
“But first of all, we have to focus on different occasions because we have to be in the top four.”
After overcoming Brighton at Wembley, Ten Hag also had praise for the character of his team, particularly after their Europa League exit to Sevilla on Thursday.
David De Gea bounced back from a poor display in Spain to make key saves while Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho scored in the shoot-out after both missed in England‘s European Championship final defeat to Italy in the same stadium on 2021.
“David played a great game, in and out of possession, he made some great saves, he’s done that so often this season, great saves,” Ten Hag added. “We have the most clean sheets in the Premier League, today a clean sheet as well, because we were so determined, we were fighting for it, we were organised.
“They had chances, we had our chances as well on the transition and in direct play and we’re happy with that. From Rashy and Jadon about penalties, we knew that, but we knew also they’re comfortable on penalties, they dealt with it, it’s a time ago, but they are so calm and composed in training with penalties.
“I know this is a different occasion, but I think it’s great they had this experience now and I think it will help them for the future. I don’t think there’s a hesitation, before there was never a hesitation because they are really good penalty takers.”
Erling Haaland scored a hat-trick as Manchester City crushed Liverpool 4-0 at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday to cruise into the FA Cup semi-finals.
Champions Liverpool played well in the opening half-hour with Mohamed Salah wasting an early chance, but once Haaland had scored from the spot in the 37th minute after a foul on Nico O’Reilly, their resistance crumbled.
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk conceded the penalty with a rash challenge, and there was little the Dutch defender could do as City played scintillating attacking football for the remainder of the game.
His blond hair swinging behind him in a ponytail, Haaland netted his second two minutes into first-half stoppage time with a well-placed header from an excellent Antoine Semenyo cross.
Semenyo got on the scoresheet himself five minutes after the break, latching on to a ball in behind from Rayan Cherki and chipping it beautifully past Giorgi Mamardashvili, and Haaland completed his treble with a shot off the underside of the crossbar in the 57th minute.
Liverpool’s woes continued when Mohamed Salah, who is set to leave the club at the end of the season, capped off a poor performance by having his penalty saved by James Trafford, snuffing out any faint hopes Liverpool might have had of a comeback
As the game turned into a victory parade, many Liverpool fans started heading for the exits, and City manager Pep Guardiola rang the changes, replacing Haaland with Omar Marmoush, the Norwegian striker receiving a standing ovation as he left the field.
In the other quarter-finals, Chelsea take on Port Vale and Southampton host Arsenal later on Saturday, with Leeds United travelling to West Ham United on Sunday.
The semi-finals will take place at Wembley, and Haaland is relishing a return to the stadium.
“First half, we struggled a bit, but then we after around 30 minutes we kept going and in the end it’s an amazing game. Another Wembley trip for us is amazing and important,” he told broadcaster TNT.
“I think (my form this season) has been a bit too much up and down, which is not good enough. I cannot keep on thinking about what I could have done differently or what didn’t happen, or what happened. I have to think about the next game.”
-Reuters
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Arsenal will be without injured England attacker Noni Madueke when they face Southampton in Saturday’s FA Cup quarter-final, but Martin Odegaard and Jurrien Timber may return from injury, manager Mikel Arteta said.
Madueke was among the 11 Arsenal players who withdrew from international duty last month over injuries and fitness management, as the club eye their first Premier League title since 2004.
“When you have to communicate the state of every player, we are always honest and a medical decision had to be made. That was clear what the conclusion was,” Arteta told reporters on Friday.
“It makes us so proud that we had that many players in the national team. Players are desperate to play for their nation. I know how important it is to them. We are fully supportive of that and when we can do it, we do it.”
Madueke picked up a knee injury during England’s friendly with Uruguay, missing the game against Japan. But Arteta said his condition was not as bad as a knee injury that kept him out for six weeks.
Martin Zubimendi, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, Timber, Leandro Trossard, Eberechi Eze, Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice were unavailable for their countries.
Arteta did not disclose how many of them will be available for Saturday’s game, as Arsenal look to shake off last month’s League Cup final loss to Manchester City with a return to Wembley in the FA Cup semi-finals.
“We’re in a position right now where we need to make the strongest line-up we possibly can to win every competition,” he said. ” We are two or three games away from the FA Cup and we know how important that competition is for us.”
-Reuters
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Manchester City will look to secure a historic eighth straight semi-final appearance in the FA Cup when they face Liverpool on Saturday, manager Pep Guardiola said.
City beat Arsenal to win the League Cup before the international break, and Guardiola is hoping his team maintain the momentum as they fight to add the FA Cup and Premier League to this season’s trophy haul.
“Once you finish one, it is the next one,” Guardiola told reporters on Friday.
“Tomorrow we have the chance to reach an incredible milestone, to make eight semi-finals in a row. It’s never happened… it is a prestigious competition, and one of the toughest, special opponents for all of us, Liverpool.”
City have dominated English football with six Premier League titles, two FA Cups and five League Cups since Guardiola joined in 2016, but Liverpool have been a constant thorn in his side throughout his coaching career.
As a coach, Guardiola has only nine victories and seven draws in 26 matches against Liverpool, his worst win rate against a Premier League club.
City have beaten Liverpool twice in the Premier League this season, but had to dig deep for a late comeback when they won 2-1 at Anfield in February.
“So many times they have been the rival, the biggest, biggest one… top contender, top class players, all of them. Hopefully we have to perform in the level we did against Arsenal to reach the next step,” Guardiola said.
The manager also praised Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah, who has announced his departure in the summer.
“Absolutely. One of the greatest. The numbers, the consistency. What a player… absolute legend, of course for Liverpool, but (also) for the Premier League,” Guardiola said.
Guardiola, however, avoided commenting on his own midfielder Rodri, who said he was open to a move to Real Madrid when his contract with City runs out at the end of this season.
“No clue, no opinion… because I know the intention of the club, I know the intention, I think, of him, but I don’t know,” Guardiola said.’
-Reuters
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