Manchester United weathered an early Tottenham storm to come from behind to win 2-1 and reach a 20th FA Cup final at Wembley on Saturday.
Goals from Alexis Sanchez and Ander Herrera cancelled out Dele Alli’s opener and ensured that Tottenham’s decade-long wait for a trophy continues.
Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino played down the importance of winning his first silverware as a coach to back up four years of undoubted progress at Tottenham beforehand, claiming it “wouldn’t change their lives.”
However, Spurs started like the side determined to make a statement.
Harry Kane and Son Heung-min had already seen shots deflected behind before Spurs went in front with a brilliant team goal on 11 minutes.
Davinson Sanchez’s long ball picked out Christian Eriksen perfectly as Paul Pogba failed to track the Danish midfielder’s run down the right.
And his cross was inch-perfect for Alli to apply the finishing touch for his 13th goal of the season.
Spurs failed to make the most of their early dominance, though, as Eriksen scuffed wide from Kane’s layoff before the England striker just couldn’t reach Son’s viscous in-swinging cross at the back post.
Pogba has been a figure of frustration all season for Jose Mourinho, who has often left the £89m ($125m) Frenchman on the sidelines.
Mourinho said Pogba had shown what he is capable of in Wednesday’s 2-0 win at Bournemouth after being substituted just four days earlier in a shock 1-0 home defeat to West Brom that handed Manchester City the Premier League title.
And having showed the side of his game that Mourinho detests for Spurs’ opener, Pogba demonstrated his combination of physical power and technical ability as he outmuscled Mousa Dembele before delivering a pin-point cross for Sanchez.
The Chilean has also been much-criticised since reportedly becoming the highest paid player in Premier League history when he moved from Arsenal in January.
However, Sanchez has a superb record at Wembley. His third United goal was his eighth in eight games at the home of English football for club and country.
Both sides were unfortunate to not take the lead in the dying moments of a captivating first 45 minutes as firstly Michel Vorm got fingertips to a deflected long-range strike from Pogba.
At the other end, Eric Dier then drove against the base of the post with David de Gea unmoved.
Kane had the first chance of the second period, but saw his shot blocked behind by Chris Smalling as Spurs again started on the front foot.
Mourinho lauds Sanchez, Pogba
Manchester United manager, Jose Mourinho has stated that his star players, Alexis Sanchez and Paul Pogba had redeemed themselves with a sterling performance to beat Tottenham in the FA Cup semi-finals after the embarrassment of losing to West Brom at home in the Premier League last weekend.
United came from a goal down to beat Spurs 2-1 on Saturday to qualify for the finals of the competition with Sanchez, Ander Herrera scoring and Pogba delivering an authoritative display.
Mourinho told reporters after the match: “I told Alexis the same as I told Paul a couple of weeks ago. I cannot expect my players to be man of the match every match, I cannot expect them to score goals every match, I cannot expect them to be perfect very match.
“What I expect is a certain level you don’t drop below, and that level is the basic things of the game. If you do the basic things of the game and then in some matches your talent appears and makes the difference, that is fine. I am not waiting for Alexis to score again in the next match and be man of the match. I just want him to be stable.
“I can imagine that even if we had lost today, I would not be as upset as I was against West Brom, even with it being an FA Cup semi-final, because the attitude was good, the players were good, they were focused, they were ready, they helped each other and were confident to play. I was really really happy and pleased so the answer was good.
“I think the feeling now is we need two victories and one draw to finish second with 81 points and if we manage to do that, against an untouchable City [when there was] no chance to get in the fight with them, then we can get to the final with a good spirit.”
Mourinho’s men will clash with Arsenal in their next game in the Premier League next Sunday at Old Trafford.
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