Key Points
In a semifinal match on Sunday that will live long in the memory, United blew a three-goal lead against second-tier Coventry, was saved by the narrowest of offside calls by the VAR in stoppage time of extra time to keep the score at 3-3, then came from behind in a penalty shootout to advance to the May 25 title match back at Wembley Stadium..
United, the grandest club in England, is languishing in seventh place in the Premier League and the team's late collapse against Coventry followed a trend of similar performances in recent weeks that will alarm its new co-owner Jim Ratcliffe, who was in the crowd at Wembley after having run the London Marathon..
City, which defeated Chelsea 1-0 in the first of the semifinals on Saturday, was a 2-1 winner over United in last year's final on its way to claiming a Premier League-FA Cup-Champions League treble..
United has picked up a nasty habit of blowing leads and it happened again against an inspired Coventry team that is eighth in the Championship and managed by Mark Robins a former Man United striker who might have saved Alex Ferguson from getting fired three years into his storied tenure as United manager..
Coventry, which was bidding to become the first non-Premier League club since Cardiff in 2008 to reach the final, fought back in remarkable fashion with goals from Ellis Sims in the 71st, Callum O'Hare in the 79th and then Haji Wright with an equalizing penalty in the fifth minute of stoppage time..
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