Erik Ten Hag insisted he was not embarrassed but admitted Manchester United 바카라śgot away with it바카라ť after edging past Championship Coventry on penalties in their FA Cup semi-final. (More Football News)
The Premier League outfit were given an almighty scare at Wembley on Sunday as the second-tier side fought back from 3-0 down and then had a late extra-time winner disallowed for a marginal offside.
A thrilling contest ended 3-3 after 120 minutes and it was United who ultimately prevailed, 4-2 on spot-kicks, to set up a repeat of last year바카라™s final against rivals Manchester City.
It was another highly unconvincing performance by United 바카라“ which may have increased the pressure on under-fire manager Ten Hag 바카라“ but the Dutchman tried to highlight the positives.
Ten Hag said: 바카라śI can바카라™t say that word (embarrassment) because, at the end of the day, it바카라™s about the achievement.
바카라śI see the mistakes we make 바카라“ we can바카라™t look away from it 바카라“ but it바카라™s not an embarrassment. It바카라™s a huge achievement.
바카라śEven the big team from United, a decade ago, only achieved the final three times. We now have two times in two years. So that바카라™s a good performance.
바카라śI see we can play in very high levels but in the same match we can also go very low. That바카라™s not explainable. It has to do with managing the game.
바카라śI have to teach my players, clearly. We have to do better in such occasions.
바카라śOn several occasions we바카라™ve let the result slip away but today we got away with it.바카라ť
United had looked to be cruising past an apparently inferior opponent as they opened up a handsome lead with goals from Scott McTominay, Harry Maguire and Bruno Fernandes.
Yet the Sky Blues, who are eighth in the Championship, pulled one back through Ellis Simms on 71 minutes and then threw caution to the wind.
Callum O바카라™Hare pulled another back with a deflected strike and Haji Wright sent the game into extra time with a stoppage-time penalty after handball by Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
Both sides hit the bar in extra time before Victor Torp thought he had snatched a dramatic winner in the closing minutes, only for VAR to rule Wright fractionally offside in the build-up.
Despite the heartbreaking manner of the loss, Sky Blues manager Mark Robins insisted there was no feeling of injustice.
The former United striker said: 바카라śIf it바카라™s the right call, it바카라™s the right call. I think he was a toenail offside, which is disappointing. Had he cut his toenail, we wouldn바카라™t be talking about penalties.
바카라śThis FA Cup run will be spoken about, certainly in Coventry City circles, for a long, long time.
바카라śWhilst I바카라™m disappointed for everybody, we can바카라™t be too down about it. We바카라™ve gone toe to toe with Manchester United, come back from 3-0 down and almost won it with a fourth, then lost it in a shoot-out, which can happen.
바카라śWe performed like Manchester United for that last half-hour and that바카라™s what I바카라™m most proud of.
바카라śThis club has been in the doldrums for so long but we바카라™re certainly out of that period. We바카라™ve just got to keep moving it forward, which is why we won바카라™t feel sorry for ourselves.바카라ť
