Erik ten Hag says his Manchester United side showed determination and resilience to overcome Brighton on penalties in the FA Cup semi-final today.
Brighton were aiming to reach their first FA Cup final since 1983, while United were on the hunt for their 7th Wembley final appearance.
The former started the stronger side, but failed to break down a makeshift United defence that saw Victor Lindelof and Luke Shaw at centreback, and the Swede was the hero of the match, placing his winning penalty in the shootout – with the game ending 0-0 after extra time – into the top right corner, with ten Hag praising his and Shaw’s performance during the match.
“He [Lindelof] is quite cool when it comes to penalties and he’s quite cool in general,” he told the BBC.
“I thought Victor and Luke Shaw played brilliantly. They had great co-operation with Casemiro.”
David de Gea was kept busy during the game as he looked to redeem himself after his forgettable performance vs Sevilla on Thursday and the Spaniard made some important saves to keep his side in the match this afternoon, and ten Hag was happy with his No.1.
“I was very impressed with him. He made some brilliant saves. It hurt when he made mistakes on Thursday.
“Often when you make mistakes as a keeper you get punished. We let him down, we didn’t fight back for him. We bounced back today though.”
Overall, the Dutchman was content with his players against the Seagulls and he admitted that the team against Sevilla was unrecognisable to the one that he saw beat Brighton today.
“On Thursday I saw a team I didn’t recognise but today we went back to usual. I could see determination and resilience. We fought for every yard and competed in every battle. We had good chances.”
The penalty shootout win for United now means they will face bitter rivals Manchester City in the final on June 3rd, while Brighton’s wait for their next FA Cup final goes on.