ENGLISH FA CUP SEMI-FINALS: Manchester United 0 Everton 0EVERTON HAD the blessing of a one-track mind as they persevered all the way through two hours of goalless football and a shoot-out to reach an FA Cup final against Chelsea.
Manchester United, by contrast, have distracted themselves to defeat at last. On this rare occasion, they could not keep one tournament under control while preserving players for the two others that are still open to them. The line-up was fractionally unequal to the task against David Moyes’ well-drilled team.
No one should waste their time in attempting to persuade any Everton follower that they had watched a sterile occasion. For them, it was alive with promise and now their team have their hope of a first trophy since the FA Cup was landed in 1995.
These players also overcame their club’s dismal record in shoot-outs. Tim Cahill sent the first kick high, but Phil Jagielka ended the contest by converting his team’s fifth. In between, the substitute Dimitar Berbatov and the captain, Rio Ferdinand, failed for Alex Ferguson’s team as Tim Howard, the former United goalkeeper, saved.
The losers will surely rage against the refusal of Mike Riley to grant a penalty in the 68th minute. Danny Welbeck cut inside from the left and was brought down by Jagielka as he moved across the area. The referee saw no offence, to the indignation of Ferguson and every other United devotee. Without making any accusation, the Everton manager, David Moyes, in the build-up, had alluded to the notion that Riley himself was once a fan of the Old Trafford club. Perhaps the ploy was supposed to make the official go to extremes in proving his integrity.
Moyes could thereby have shown himself a master of the sort of psychological ploy for which Ferguson himself is renowned. The United manager may even recognise that, just as soon as he has regained his peace of mind. It is still an indictment of this insipid semi-final that the topic lingers in the memory more than most of the football.
Ferguson undermined his team, to a degree. Wayne Rooney was injured, but the manager chose to give others such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Michael Carrick the day off. In the end, Moyes’s men grasped the opportunity. The exhilaration all came after a tedious match. There must have been a tinge of poignancy as well pride for particular individuals.
Howard was not the only person to hurt his former employers, since Phil Neville, another United servant in days gone by, was unflinching as he drove in the third penalty for Everton.
It would have been better if there had been no football match to delay the fascination of the shoot-out. Perhaps United deserved their punishment. They had landed the League Cup, against Tottenham Hotspur, following a goalless draw and penalties. A club of their means and history must not complain when there is a price eventually to be paid for ineffectuality.
The first half was so dreary that the gripping moments were those in which something interesting did not quite happen. The United goalkeeper, Ben Foster, for instance, dithered over clearing, but when he brushed the ball against Louis Saha it rolled back into his grasp. By the same token, Everton’s centre-back Joleon Lescott put a cross uneasily close to his near post while conceding a corner.
Before the interval Everton looked unsettled by the fact that their prospects were, in principle, better than United’s. After all, they were much closer to a full-strength selection. There was little sign of conviction before Cahill’s speculative effort forced a good save from Foster in the 54th minute.
United did show resolve. With seven minutes to go, Welbeck again came in off the left to get himself inside the full-back Tony Hibbert before coming close with a bending drive that was too high.
Extra-time was inescapable. Ferguson did at least try to force the issue. The 17-year-old striker Federico Macheda gave way to Dimitar Berbatov. Ferguson will have had an eye on Wednesday’s fixture at home to Portsmouth in the Premier League as he sought to win here while making the minimum use of his leading figures. His ploy, too, was to introduce some experienced men at Wembley, such as Paul Scholes, for the latter stages. The formula was flawed on this occasion. There is, to put it mildly, much that the club can yet achieve in this campaign, but now United will have to rebuild momentum.
It was Everton who left Wembley with their stock of conviction and hope replenished.
GuardianService
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