English FA Cup - Everton gets to the FA Cup Final Defeating the Powerful Manchester United

The five-times FA Cup champions and current 6th place of the Premier League, Everton, obtained its ticket to the final of the FA Cup after beating the powerful club Manchester United in shootout penalties 4-2 this past Sunday. This triumph was a surprise for the Reds Devil fans, who were expecting their club’s 12th title of the FA Cup in their history. However, Everton took their chances away after playing a great game for 2 hours. Both teams had their chances to open the score but none of them converted in the 90 minutes of the regular time or in the overtime.   

During the game, Everton constantly put pressure over its opponent, who had only five players from the starter line-up in the game and the rest were younger and inexperienced players. This was criticized by some of the media which said that Coach Ferguson’s decision on his line-up for such an important game was a lack of logic. However, Coach Sir Ferguson stated that despite the result he does not regret the decision he made and that he knew that it will be a tough game, but he also knew that his stars players needed to rest and prepare for the game against Portsmouth on Wednesday April 22nd in the Premier League. 

"I am absolutely convinced I picked the right team, I have no regrets about it at all. After yesterday, I knew there would be some criticism because it did not work for us. It is not nice to lose a semi-final and this one is no different. But there is enough freshness in the rest of the squad for Wednesday now, which is how we planned it," stated Ferguson.

During the shootout penalties, which most of the time is a lottery for any team, the ex-goalkeeper of Manchester United Tim Howard, was Everton’s hero and savoir since after Tim Cahill missed Everton’s first penalty kick, Howard saved the next two opportunities from Manchester United’s players Dimitar Berbatov and Rio Ferdinand. At the end, the defender of Everton Jagielka scored the final penalty to start Everton’s celebration with a 4-2 score over one of the best clubs in the world.

For the Everton’s manager, David Moyes, this was one of the most memorable victories in his coaching-career and even knowing that with this win there is nothing certain yet for the final against Chelsea, this victory is fantastic for Everton since the club has not appeared in a FA Cup final for 14-years. Moyes was really proud of his players and all the effort they did during the whole game, and even knowing that Manchester United brought a weaker squad with younger players, he knew it will be a tough battle and they needed to take advantage of the opportunity that Manchester was giving them.

Now with this big win, Everton has high expectations for the final game and they are sure they can play great football against Chelsea. The FA Cup final will be held at the Wembley Stadium on May 30th and we hope the best for Everton and their manager Moyes at this important European tournament.