This is football in 2018 and it looks like good craic.
Manchester United are through to their second FA Cup final in three seasons. A 2-1 victory against Tottenham at Wembley booked their return to the stadium on May 19, where they will hope to end their season by lifting the famous trophy once again.
Having fallen behind to an early Dele Alli goal, Alexis Sanchez’s header – laid on by Paul Pogba’s cross – saw them equalise, with Ander Herrera scoring the decisive goal in the second half.
Although Spurs had dominated the early stages, it was a terrific response from Jose Mourinho’s team, who dug deep to get in front and were defensively disciplined to thwart the North London side’s attack when they got their lead.
At the back, Chris Smalling and Phil Jones were excellent in silencing Harry Kane while Pogba, Sanchez and Herrera all produced some of their best displays of the season further up the field.
Jesse Lingard, back at the scene of his Cup final winner against Crystal Palace two years ago, also played a key role. At times, Tottenham struggled to pick up his running off the ball with United’s support once again recognising his tireless performance.
https://twitter.com/UnitedAdz/status/987769465772310530
This campaign has undoubtedly been Lingard’s best as a United player. His goal tally of 13 is a career best and Mourinho’s decision to start him in an attacking role at Wembley – ahead of Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford – is a sign of how highly his manager rates him.
A graduate of the club’s academy and born in Warrington – 20 miles down the road from Old Trafford – it’s no surprise that United’s support are fond of Lingard. A quick scan of his social media feed also reveals that he goes out of his way to show how much he appreciates this, too.
Always got time for the @ManUtd fans, brilliant support again last night. Weather was a little better than last week as well! 🌧🤙🏾#TBT #JLingz pic.twitter.com/lVlpGbIWRA
— Jesse Lingard (@JesseLingard) April 19, 2018
Another reminder of this came on Saturday evening, as United fans made their way out of Wembley. Lingard, in the dressing room at this stage, Facetimed a group of United’s supporters (including his brother, Lou) that were gathered around FullTimeDEVILS‘ cameras outside the stadium, helping them to celebrate the victory over Spurs by starting off a couple of songs.
Clearly, this went down well…
https://twitter.com/themanutdway/status/987829892493598720?s=12
https://twitter.com/AdamMcKola/status/987794895166373888
Lovely connection between Lingard and the United faithful.
We’re looking forward to seeing Robbie Brady or Seani Maguire do the same with Ireland fans later this year…
