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Manchester United had to rely on the lottery of a penalty shoot-out to edge past Brighton and book a place in the FA Cup final against rivals Manchester City.
Victor Lindelof scored the winning penalty as Manchester United edged past a spirited Brighton 7-6 on penalties to set up a Manchester derby in the FA Cup final.
How it happened
United boss Erik ten Hag demanded a positive response from his players after their shocking performance against Sevilla in midweek but Brighton looked equipped to spoil their party by dominating the opening half-hour.
David de Gea had to be on his toes to keep out an early free-kick from Alexis Mac Allister before Julio Enciso and Kaoru Mitoma each missed the target with good opportunities inside the box.
Having shown small signs of improvement towards the end of the first half, the Red Devils emerged after the restart desperate to stamp their authority on proceedings.
It was Brighton though who looked the more dangerous of the two sides in the final third as Enciso saw a stinging drive superbly thwarted by De Gea, and Danny Welbeck directed a close-range header wastefully over the bar.
Ultimately, this was as close as either side came to finding a breakthrough during a frantic finale as Mitoma saw another half-chance go begging, leaving the absorbing tie to be settled by the lottery of a penalty shoot-out.
In a battle of nerve, both sides were faultless from their first six spot-kicks, and after Solly March blasted Brighton’s seventh penalty over the bar, Victor Lindelöf held his nerve to send United into a 21st FA Cup final, inflicting a third successive shoot-out defeat on the Seagulls.
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