Wembley - Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag praised his players for keeping their cool in a penalty win over Championship side Coventry City in the FA Cup semi-final.
The Red Devils squandered a three-goal lead late in the second half at Wembley Stadium when Hadji Wright's stoppage-time penalty sent the score into extra-time. Victor Toph secured the victory for the Sky Blues in the 121st minute, which was ruled offside by VAR, and United won 4-2 on penalties to narrow out the final.
Speaking to the Independent Television after the game, Ten Hag said United would have to be resilient to bounce back from such setbacks.
"It was an unbelievable game and a strange game. We were in complete control for so long and then lost control in the final stretch of the game. We did show resilience to win penalty shoot-outs," he said. 'We controlled 75 minutes and we have to give credit to Coventry for the last 15 minutes.
"We have to improve. We talked a lot. First, you have to put yourself in a winning position, but then you have to overcome it. In these moments, we are making mistakes and not living up to our responsibilities. ”
Asked if there was a problem with United's mentality, Ten Hag said: "We can't say this team doesn't have the right mentality because they showed personality today but in the end there was a lack of discipline. 'We have to keep the ball, keep passing, score goals and then strengthen defensively. It's about communication, and we have to improve on that. ”
Casemiro missed United's first penalty but was given a suspended sentence when Callum O'Hare and Ben Sheef also failed to find the net for Coventry. Rasmus Hojlund, who was unavailable for much of the day due to muscle tension, scored the final penalty.
Ten Hag said of the team's conversation before the shoot-out: "It was about mentality. ”。 "You have a plan, and you have full confidence, so I told them to stick to it. 'I'm confident we'll win the penalty shoot-out. Usually Casemiro scores goals and we trained well. "It's a mixed feeling. We can be happy with what we have achieved and be in the final, which is fantastic. ”。 "Even the mighty Manchester United have only scored three times, we have achieved two in two years. But we need to win the final. When we win 100 per cent, we can do it. ”
Manchester United will face Manchester City in next month's FA Cup final, the same one Pep Guardiola's side won 2-1 in last year's final.