Erik ten Hag: Man Utd will do 'everything' to stop Man City treble
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has assured fans his team will ‘give everything’ to beat Manchester City in the FA Cup final, potentially killing their treble hopes in the process.
City booked their place in next month’s cup final on Saturday by beating Sheffield United in their last four clash, with United following 24 hours later after seeing off Brighton on penalties.
City are also now new favourites in the Premier League title race after Arsenal rescued a 3-3 draw against Southampton on Friday night, dropping points for the third straight game. Should Pep Guardiola’s team beat the faltering Gunners at home on Wednesday night, they will be just two points behind with a game in hand still to play – and in far better form.
In Europe, City have additionally reached the semi-finals of the Champions League, which is the trophy that continues to allude them. Facing Real Madrid, they are in the far more challenging of the two semis, with the other an all-Milan tie.
Although the likes of Barcelona and Inter have done it in Spain and Italy respectively, United remain the only English club to have completed a league, cup and European Cup treble – they famously did it in 1999 with Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League triumphs.
Liverpool had the chance to do an unprecedented quadruple last season, only to fall short in the Premier League title race and lose the Champions League final.
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“We will give everything. And when I say everything, that is everything!” Ten Hag said.
“I understand, of course, the feelings from the Man United fans about [playing City in the final]. We want to give them that win against City, we want to give the fans that trophy and we can do it because we have proven we can beat them.
“It’s not easy – [City] are a great team – but we also have a great team and players. We have to play the perfect game, but we beat them earlier this season.”
Ten Hag was referring to United’s 2-1 win over City at Old Trafford in January, when late goals from Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford cancelled out Jack Grealish’s opener.
City most recently won the FA Cup in 2019, thrashing Watford 6-0 in the final. United were narrowly beaten by Chelsea at Wembley in 2018, last winning with an extra-time goal from Jesse Lingard against Crystal Palace in 2016 – that was actually their first triumph in 12 years.
Neither Manchester club has reached any of the last three finals, while this year will be the first time in 151 years of the competition that the FA Cup final has been a Manchester derby.
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