The Wembley arch was red and so was the lighting inside the Manchester United team coach. Bruno Fernandes beckoned Victor Lindelof over for a selfie. “Iceman,” Fernandes posted. Lindelof was cool with his penalty.
Fernandes seemed to know better than anyone that Lindelof would arrange a first all-Manchester FA Cup final. The ball had not been fished from the Seagulls behind the goal and Lindelof was almost in the penalty area. Fernandes started lining up the United players and staff to prepare for their celebratory charge.
Many would have considered that to be hubris but Fernandes did not have a flicker of doubt. Lindelof’s kick was the best of the 13 conversions; struck with casual poise but so clinically.
Also read: Reactions before and after Lindelof's kick show what it means to Fernandes and Weghorst
The tip of Robert Sanchez’s glove will have wavered as he reached for Marcus Rashford’s shot and he palmed Marcel Sabitzer’s into the side of the net. Lindelof’s was utterly unsaveable.
Lindelof struck the winning spotkick in Sweden Under-21s' European Championship final triumph against Portugal in 2015 and he was the last of United's outfield takers in the Europa League final in Gdansk in 2021. On both occasions, he aimed high.
Should United have another shootout against City on June 3, Lindelof may rise up the list of takers. He should certainly be further up the centre-back pecking order. Underused in United's 32 games since the World Cup, Lindelof has started three successive games for the first time since November.
Typically, Lindelof was one of the first United players on the team coach, eager to be reunited with his wife, Maja, and two young boys. What has been an unfulfilling season for the Swede could end on a fulfilling note. Should Raphael Varane fail to recover over the next five weeks then Lindelof would be due another start at Wembley.
The United chief executive Richard Arnold emerged from the Wembley tunnel before the players. How was he, this correspondent asked. “Better now,” he beamed.
In a week where a lack of character in the United squad was visible in Seville, it was the difference in their semi-final. "It was not us," Erik ten Hag said of the Sevilla surrender. "I don’t know what happened, I focus on this game, it’s such a short time to prepare this, get this done. It was the worst game of the season we played in Seville."
Wout Weghorst lacks quality but has character. He chased down a lost cause from Tyrell Malacia’s hopeless hoik, earned a free-kick and bonded with the United followers. The Dutch are almost as infamous in shootouts as the English, though Weghorst has the experience of converting in a World Cup quarter-final. His strike was assured.
Antony had been geeing up Weghorst during the pause in extra-time. Antony had also interacted with the crowd, practically celebrating United's perfect press. Fred turned cheerleader when he noticed the penalties would be taken at the Brighton end. Plenty at United do have character.
Fernandes can be antagonistic enough on the pitch and was more so as a player-coach. The Brighton dugout reacted angrily to his suggestion that Kaoru Mitoma receive a second yellow card for an avoidable collision into David de Gea.
Ten Hag described Christian Eriksen's “coaching” last week. What might have been a malapropism was anything but. Eriksen, the oldest of United's outfield substitutes at Nottingham Forest earlier this month, spent his warm up exchanging passes with 19-year-olds Marc Jurado and Zidane Iqbal.
Fernandes and Antony are among the United players emboldened to gain some unofficial coaching badges in-game. None of the XI appeared to take umbrage with their peers at Wembley.
It remains doubtful if Jadon Sancho has the requisite character for United as a starter. As an impact substitute, he remains the penetrative and probing Sancho of Borussia Dortmund. Sancho exorcised some demons at the opposite end to where the gigantic Gianluigi Donnarumma blocked out the floodlights and his penalty in the European Championship final.
"From Rashy and Jadon about penalties, we knew that, but we knew also they’re comfortable on penalties, they dealt with it," added Ten Hag.
"It’s a time ago, but they are so calm and composed in training with penalties. I know this is a different occasion but I think it’s great they had this experience now and I think it will help them for the future. I don’t think there’s a hesitation, before there was never a hesitation because they are really good penalty-takers."
So is Lindelof.
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