Louis van Gaal hailed Manchester United's "unbelievable" spirit after they beat Everton 2-1 to reach the FA Cup final, before confessing his continued uncertainty about his chances of still being with the club next season.
Anthony Martial struck a dramatic stoppage-time winner at Wembley Stadium after Marouane Fellaini's 34th-minute opener was cancelled out by a Chris Smalling own-goal 15 minutes from time.
United had dominated the first half, with Everton then mounting a comeback during which Everton striker Romelu Lukaku had a 57th-minute penalty brilliantly saved by David de Gea.
See more:
• Greg Lea: Rooney a central figure even as Martial powers Manchester United to FA Cup final
• In pictures: Anthony Martial fires Manchester United into FA Cup final with late winner against Everton
• Sunday cover: Finally, something to smile about for Manchester United
The semi-final looked certain to head into extra time, but Martial then intervened to send United into their first FA Cup final in nine years as they remained on course for their first trophy since 2013.
United are currently fifth in the Premier League and there has been plenty of talk this season about manager Van Gaal being replaced in the summer.
And having praised his team for their efforts on Saturday, the Dutchman, asked how important winning the FA Cup could be for the team’s development heading into next season, said: “I am not looking beyond this competition and FA Cup, because we live in the present.
“For the future, I will discuss that with my board and others.”
Van Gaal, whose current contract runs until the summer of 2017, was then asked if he would consider winning the FA Cup but failing to qualify for the Uefa Champions League a success.
The 64-year-old Dutchman replied: “It is not for me to judge: it is for the board of Manchester United.”
Van Gaal had no doubt his side deserved to win the match.
And although he did not dispute the awarding of the penalty by referee Anthony Taylor following Timothy Fosu-Mensah’s challenge on Ross Barkley, he was critical of the official more generally as he gave his assessment of the contest.
“I think in the first half we were the better team,” Van Gaal said.
“We scored and created more chances, although we could have finished more.
“In the second half I think the referee changed the match.
“I have to say I think it was a penalty – I don’t argue. But I argue over 50-50 duels that were not in our favour. When you do that over 10 or 15 minutes in a row, you have a big influence in the game.
“After that we scored the own-goal and it was 1-1, and then you saw we were showing our spirit. It was unbelievable.
“We were out of the game, but then back in it, and then Anthony scores a fantastic goal.
“We are lucky we scored in the last minute but we deserved to win.”
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Tales of Yusuf Tadros
Adel Esmat (translated by Mandy McClure)
Hoopoe
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Kamindu Mendis bio
Full name: Pasqual Handi Kamindu Dilanka Mendis
Born: September 30, 1998
Age: 20 years and 26 days
Nationality: Sri Lankan
Major teams Sri Lanka's Under 19 team
Batting style: Left-hander
Bowling style: Right-arm off-spin and slow left-arm orthodox (that's right!)
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RS Leipzig 3
Marcel Sabitzer 10', 21'
Emil Forsberg 87'
Tottenham 0
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Hotel Silence
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
A timeline of the Historical Dictionary of the Arabic Language
- 2018: Formal work begins
- November 2021: First 17 volumes launched
- November 2022: Additional 19 volumes released
- October 2023: Another 31 volumes released
- November 2024: All 127 volumes completed
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Tips for job-seekers
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BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Key recommendations
- Fewer criminals put behind bars and more to serve sentences in the community, with short sentences scrapped and many inmates released earlier.
- Greater use of curfews and exclusion zones to deliver tougher supervision than ever on criminals.
- Explore wider powers for judges to punish offenders by blocking them from attending football matches, banning them from driving or travelling abroad through an expansion of ‘ancillary orders’.
- More Intensive Supervision Courts to tackle the root causes of crime such as alcohol and drug abuse – forcing repeat offenders to take part in tough treatment programmes or face prison.
