Ander Herrera calls for Manchester United ‘calm’ after reaching FA Cup final

Jose Mourinho says that if Manchester United can win the FA Cup and finish second in the Premier League it would represent a good season, after the Red Devils booked a spot in the final by beating Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 at Wembley.

Yet it was Tottenham, looking for a first trophy for 10 years and something tangible to show for all the exciting progress made under manager Mauricio Pochettino, who dominated early on.

But, once more, they were hit by a sucker punch when Sanchez’s ball across the face of the area fell perfectly for Herrera arriving late from midfield and, despite going in the middle of the goal, his low effort beat Vorm, who was slow to react down to his right.

Here’s what we learned from an enthralling encounter at Wembley.

But no, this was different, this was him laying down a marker, this was him thanking Mourinho for his continued faith and this was him effectively telling Martial and Rashford, “if you want your place in the line-up, you’re going to have to play like this”.

However, United levelled things up midway through the first half as Paul Pogba dispossessed Mousa Dembele before finding Alexis Sanchez with an excellent cross and the Chilean global made it 1-1 with a superb header. That not only meant he flourished in attack but he tracked back and started to do the dirty work.

In many ways, this game symbolized a lot of things.

Sports television, “to reach the same level as the clubs like Manchester United and Manchester City”.

United saw out the clock and this bitter defeat for Pochettino suggests his side have might have run out of legs when they need them most.

Most of the talk leading up to this game was about how Alexis Sanchez was likely to be benched by Mourinho. His love of Wembley, and the FA Cup, was made clear at Arsenal, where he scored four goals in his previous four ties at the national stadium. Alexis chased down every ball and made life hard for all four Spurs defenders.

That was summed up by his role in United’s victor. Latching on to a loose ball, he held off Trippier before picking out Romelu Lukaku on the edge of the box. Sanchez’s third career goal in a United shirt is his biggest thus far.

Five minutes later Harry Kane almost increased the advantage when Alli found Heung-Min Son and his drifted cross was met by Kane at the back post.

The win thus took Jose Mourinho’s men to their 20th FA Cup final while the semi- final game itself was the team’s 29th in the competition, overall.

Pogba and Sanchez have been the two marquee signings of Mourinho’s time in charge, but both have largely failed to meet the standards expected of them this season with Mourinho even dropping Pogba regularly throughout the campaign. Now the final is the final and obviously you have to try to win it’.

IT is a feeling Spurs fans know well – another semi-final defeat, another could-have-been moment. That is their main aim each season. Juergen Klopp’s side threw away a two-goal lead to draw with last-place West Bromwich Albion 2-2 and move only three points ahead of Tottenham. Spurs have a happy camp, but there are cracks appearing; those cracks can only be mended with silverware, which continues to elude them, and changing the wage structure that still does not match their rivals.