(Football news) As the Citizens compete to keep England’s oldest trophy and raise it over their heads for the eighth time in team history, the Red Devils are pursuing retribution and hope to win the coveted award for a record 13 times.
When we looked back at this time last year, Manchester City was on a path to win a historic treble, with numerous records being broken by the team and its players. Though their hopes of winning the Champions League were cruelly dashed earlier in the season when they lost to Real Madrid in the quarterfinals on penalties, they are still on track to become household names in the home arena for the second time in six days.
Despite the best efforts of challengers Arsenal who pushed them right to the final day, Manchester City have been crowned Premier League champions once again after beating West Ham United 3-1 in front of a carnival atmosphere at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, becoming the first team in English top-flight history to win four titles in a row.
The Citizens made the perfect start as Premier League Player of the Season Phil Foden scored twice in the first 18 minutes, including a stunning second-minute opener. Mohammed Kudus’s spectacular bicycle kick on the stroke of half time was the only real moment of magic from West Ham all afternoon against a dominant City outfit, who sealed the three points and the title when Rodri’s long-range strike nestled into the bottom corner just before the hour mark.
Manchester City’s relentless drive to succeed season after season has been instilled by manager Pep Guardiola, who continues to cement his status as one of, if not the, best coaches that the beautiful game has ever produced having now won six Premier League titles and 17 trophies in total during his eight years at the helm.
Guardiola, who has been rewarded with the Premier League Manager of the Season accolade, has admitted that he is now running out of things to achieve at Manchester City. With his contract set to expire in 2025, the Catalan has stated that he is “closer to leaving than staying”, hinting that next season could be his last at the Etihad.
The 53-year-old was, however, reliably informed by Gary Lineker last weekend that he can create further history with Manchester City in Saturday’s Wembley showpiece, as no team in English football has ever won the top-flight title and FA Cup in consecutive seasons. The Citizens could complete the league title and FA Cup double for the third time, something that has only been achieved previously by Man United (1993-94, 1995-96 and 1998-99) and Arsenal (1970-71, 1997-98 and 2001-02).
Arsenal were in fact the last team to win back-to-back FA Cups (2014 and 2015) and have won a record 14 trophies in total, with Manchester United second on the all-time list with 12, while Man City can move into joint-third with eight triumphs along with Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur if they can come out on top this weekend.
Since losing 3-2 to Liverpool in the semi-finals of the 2022 FA Cup, Man City have won each of their last 11 games in the competition, scoring 34 goals and conceding only five times. Guardiola’s men have navigated their way past Huddersfield Town, Spurs, Luton Town, Newcastle United and Chelsea to reach another final this term, edging past the latter by a 1-0 scoreline in the semi-finals last month courtesy of a deflected strike from Bernardo Silva six minutes from time.
Manchester City, who boast a club-record 35-game unbeaten run in all competitions dating back to December 6, have every right to be optimistic of success against a Man United outfit whom they have already beaten twice in the Premier League this season (3-0 at Old Trafford and 3-1 at the Etihad). The last time that they beat their rivals three times in the same campaign was back in 1969-70.
Although the Citizens are regarded as firm favourites to win Saturday’s final, Manchester United can never be written off entirely in a Manchester derby and there is arguably more riding on this fixture for the Red Devils and particularly manager Erik ten Hag, who has come under mounting pressure to keep his job following an underwhelming 2023-24 campaign.
Manchester United enter their 22nd FA Cup final, the most by any team in the competition’s history, knowing that they must beat Manchester City to qualify for next season’s Europa Conference League after their lowest-ever Premier League finish (eighth place) was confirmed last weekend, despite beating Newcastle United and Brighton & Hove Albion in their final two games of the campaign.
Four days after securing a 3-2 win over Newcastle at Old Trafford, Man United snatched victory away against a wasteful Brighton outfit on Sunday, with second-half strikes from Diogo Dalot and Rasmus Hojlund sealing a 2-0 success. However, victory was not enough for them to climb above the Magpies, who beat Brentford 4-2 in their final-day fixture to secure seventh spot on goal difference.
Ten Hag has continuously highlighted the fact that his Manchester United side have been hampered with injuries and illness throughout this season, but that serves as no excuse for a number of below-par performances across all competitions. In the Premier League, the Red Devils have been condemned to a club-record 14 defeats and end the season with a -1 goal difference for the first time in 34 years. They also mustered their second-lowest points total (60) in a 38-game campaign.
Last season’s EFL Cup winners crashed out in the fourth round to Newcastle this time around, losing 3-0 on home soil, while the less said about their disastrous Champions League group-stage campaign – finishing rock bottom and below both Copenhagen and Galatasaray with just one win from six games – the better. The only competition that has brought an element of joy to Red Devils supporters this term is the FA Cup, but then again, they have not made it easy for themselves.
After edging past lower-league duo Wigan Athletic and Newport County in rounds three and four, Manchetser United claimed a slender 1-0 fifth-round win at Nottingham Forest thanks to an 89th-minute header from Casemiro, before coming out on top in an all-time FA Cup classic to beat rivals Liverpool 4-3 after extra time in the quarter-finals, showing a greater level on desire and hunger that has lacked in several games this season.
Championship side Coventry City were then standing in their way at the semi-final stage, and although they were leading 3-0 heading into the final 20 minutes, the Red Devils nearly threw it all away as the Sky Blues remarkably forced extra time, where Victor Torp was denied a last-gasp winning goal by VAR. Manchester United eventually prevailed on penalties, but most of Ten Hag’s players were embarrassed to celebrate after scraping into the final.
Ten Hag has vowed to ‘fight for the FA Cup’ and end their gruelling season that has ‘not been good enough’ on a much-needed high, but securing silverware at the expense of Manchester City might not be enough to save his job ahead of an expected summer overhaul by minority shareholder Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
Man United enter Saturday’s contest having lost six of their last seven meetings with Manchester City in all competitions, conceding 21 goals in the process, and they have lost each of their last three in a row. However, the Red Devils have come out on top in five of their last seven FA Cup encounters with their noisy neighbours, although both defeats during this run were at Wembley, including last season’s final when a brace from Ilkay Gundogan – including a 12-second opener – condemned Ten Hag’s men to a 2-1 defeat.
Also read: AC Milan will play Salernitana in Serie A
