Manchester United vs Coventry LIVE: FA Cup semi-final result as Red Devils sneak through penalty shootout to reach final

The Coventry City fans will have a fantastic time at Wembley today regardless of the result and have already started to appear in and around the stadium.

Beating Manchester United though will put the icing on the cake for them if their team can pull off a surprising win this afternoon.

Coventry City are playing just their second ever FA Cup semi-final having previously beaten Leeds United in the 1986/87 winning cup run.

City have only ever won the FA Cup once but have a 100% win rate at this stage of the competition. Surely a positive sign for the Sky Blues?

Coventry boss Mark Robins has scoffed at the “derisory” criticism of Manchester United, insisting his side’s FA Cup semi-final opponents remain the biggest football club on the planet.

Robins began his career at Old Trafford and his history with the club is firmly intertwined with the cup, with his third round winner against Nottingham Forest in 1990 often cited as the goal that saved Sir Alex Ferguson from the sack.

Ferguson’s latest successor in the hot seat, Erik ten Hag, could do with firming up his own position and could find himself on extremely rocky ground if the Red Devils were denied a shot at silverware by Championship opposition.

“We have to go into this game understanding what the treats are and there are significant ones because they have top players.” added Mark Robins who went on to explain that Manchester United are big favourites to win today.

“For people who say Manchester United are this and that and concede a lot of shots, you’re talking about a team that are full of talented top international players, that play at that level every week.

“For us, we know they are clearly favourites to win this game, by a million miles and they are expected to win, and we know that and what we are likely to encounter, but we have to play a part in the game.

“We have to understand what the game will be and what the occasion is. There shouldn’t be any fear and it will be one of the biggest games most of our players will have played in.

“It’s only the second time in our history we have reached an FA Cup semi-final, so can we go and take that to another level. It will be an interesting game, but one we have to enjoy and give everything we possibly can.”

“We have to be right. We’ve lost three of our last four and that’s not brilliant form at this stage of the season.

When people speak about us, they say, was there one eye on this game, I doubt it, although you could be forgiven to thinking about the game before it’s been played.

The game will be a really good game and it’s brilliant for us and our supporters and the world will be tuning in and it’s a great occasion for us and all of our players.”

Coventry City boss, Mark Robins, says his team will have to react to Manchester United’s gameplan but also try to impose themselves on the match whenever they can today.

“It’s about them and how they can settle and what we can do,” he said, “We want to take part in the game when we can do.

“It’s a difficult challenge, there’s no doubt about it. I hear people saying Manchester United are this or that, but the truth of it is they have top, top players.

“We have to be able to deal with the situation and deal with Manchester United and the threat they pose and that’s a significant one.”

In the best part of seven years, Manchester United have won a lone trophy. Casemiro, in contrast, has three Champions Leagues since Jose Mourinho’s United lifted the Europa League in 2017. The Brazilian has a couple of La Liga titles in that time, too, plus the Uefa Super Cup, Club World Cup and Copa America. Perhaps it was no surprise, therefore, that the 2023 Carabao Cup came courtesy of a goal and a man-of-the-match performance from Casemiro in the final.

There is a theory, often promulgated by men such as Mourinho with sizeable medal collections and a sense of their own superiority, that football can be divided into two categories: winners and others. There is no doubt which bracket contains Casemiro and his celebrations at Wembley, his evident delight, was proof he did not just delight in winning the Champions League.

Coventry City boss Mark Robins is widely acknowledged to be the man who saved Sir Alex Ferguson’s job in 1990 when his third-round goal against Nottingham Forest ended a run of 11 games without a win.

United went on to win the FA Cup that year which eased the pressure on Ferguson and led to the clubs greatest era of success.

“Yes, I know (the story). In football, it’s sometimes like this, that a shot on the post or in the net makes a huge difference,” said current United boss Erik ten Hag who is under a similar amount of pressure as Ferguson was back in the day.

Will Robins, who saved Ferguson’s job back in 1990, be the one to bring the curtain down on Ten Hag’s era in 2024?

The FA have confirmed that Robert Jones will be the referee this weekend’s FA Cup semi-final. He will be assisted by Ian Hussin and Neil Davies, whilst Thomas Bramall will act as fourth official.

Elsewhere, at Stockley Park, Michael Salisbury will be the Video Assistant Referee, alongside Peter Bankes and Nick Greenhalgh.

It should come as no surprise that Manchester United have dominated this fixture over the years. The teams have face each other 83 times in competitive football with United coming out on top in over half of the meetings.

Here’s the head-to-head breakdown:

Coventry wins: 23 Draws: 17 Manchester United wins: 43