Manchester City beat Manchester United 2-1 to lift the FA Cup title at Wembley on Saturday afternoon and keep alive hopes of a treble.
City already claimed the Premier League title, and will now head into next Saturday’s Champions League final against Inter Milan in Istanbul beaming with confidence.
Ilkay Gündogan scored a great right-footed shot 13 seconds into the match to give City an early lead.
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The match had barely gotten its rhythm than the fantastic shot from the City captain left David de Gea rooted to the spot. The goal came in after the Manchester United defence was caught off guard.
Meanwhile, Casemiro was seen telling his teammates to calm down after the shocking goal.
Three minutes later, a well-taken free-kick by Kevin De Bruyne was headed into the side netting by Rodri, as City sought to quickly extend the lead.
Manchester United pushed forward with glimpses of beautiful attacking football but Marcus Rashford’s header was too weak to trouble Stefan Ortega in goal.
Two minutes before the half hour mark, De Bruyne, who had disturbed United all the while, saw his left-footed shot go narrowly wide.
Manchester United restore parity
Manchester United scored just after the half hour mark to bring back hope of lifting a second title this season. The Red Devils were awarded a penalty after referee Paul Tierney consulted the VAR. Jack Grealish was deemed to have handled the ball seconds earlier when Aaron Wan-Bissaka tried to find a pass with his header.
Bruno Fernandes scored the resulting penalty in the 33rd minute to level the scoreline 1-1.
A minute later, Pep Guardiola’s side lost an opportunity to take the lead for a second time in the game as they continued to probe United’s area.
A penalty shout for City was overlooked by Tierney as De Bruyne went down in the box. Later on, Raphael Varane blasted a shot wide after a fine corner kick.
City claim slim victory
The Cityzens led for the second time in the encounter when Gündogan, this time with his left foot, scored from outside the box after De Bruyne’s freekick found the German.
In a bid to sharpen their attack, Erik Ten Hag threw on Alejandro Garnacho for the ineffective Christian Eriksen.
Minutes later, Rashford’s promising shot flew over the bar, much to the frustration of the United faithfuls.
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City thought they had scored a third and put the game beyond their rivals when Gündogan pounced on a rebound off Haaland’s shot to find the back of the net, but he was rightly ruled offside.
Garnacho’s first real impact was felt when it clocked 72 minutes. His curling shot narrowly missed the target. The 18-year-old Argentine contributed to a series of attacking forays later on, all to no avail.
Pep Guardiola and his boys held on to secure the 2-1 victory as they claimed their second trophy this season – a domestic double for Manchester City.
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