2023 FA Cup Final Score: Manchester City 2-1 Manchester United
Date: Saturday 3rd June
Venue: Wembley Stadium
Attendance: 83,179
Referee: Paul Tierney
Teams
Manchester City
Stefan Ortega, Kyle Walker, Rúben Dias, Manuel Akanji, John Stones, Rodri, Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, İlkay Gündoğan (c) Jack Grealish, Erling Haaland
Manager: Pep Guardiola
Goal Scorers: Gündoğan 1′ and 51′
Man Utd
David De Gea, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Raphael Varane, Victor Lindelof, Luke Shaw, Casemiro, Fred, Bruno Fernandes, Christian Eriksen, Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford
Manager: Erik ten Hag
Goal Scorer: Fernandes 33′ (Pen)
The 142nd FA Cup Final
The 2023 FA Cup Final was the 142nd final of the competition.
Wembley Stadium hosted the match contested between Manchester City and Manchester United on Saturday 3rd June.
During the 2022/23 season Manchester City won 28 games in total, drawing five times and losing on five occasions to finish 1st in the Premier League. Manchester United ended up finishing 3rd in the Premier League having registered 23 wins, six draws and nine losses.
Manchester United also won the League Cup beating Newcastle 2-0 in the final at Wembley Stadium.
Manchester City’s run to the final saw them beat Chelsea in the third round, Arsenal in round four and Bristol City in the fifth round. They defeated Burnley in round six and then beat Sheffield United in the semi-finals.
Manchester United reached the final having defeated Everton in round three, Reading in the fourth round and West Ham United in round five. They beat Fulham in the sixth round and were victorious against Brighton and Hove Albion in the semis.
Match Report
After just 12 seconds of play, İlkay Gündoğan scored for Manchester City with a right-footed volley from outside the penalty area, the fastest goal in FA Cup Final history – beating Louis Saha’s strike in the 2009 final for Everton that was clocked at 25 seconds.
Bruno Fernandes converted the penalty for United after 33 minutes to make it 1–1.
In the 51st minute, De Bruyne delivered a free-kick towards United’s box, the ball dropping to Gündoğan who from just outside the area struck the ball first time with his left foot. The strike rolled into the bottom left hand corner of the net with David de Gea unable to stop it.
City were denied a third goal, Haaland’s shot saved by de Gea before Gündoğan tapped the ball into the goal from a rebound. Yet it was disallowed with the German in an offside position when Haaland took the initial shot.
United desperately pushed for an equaliser as Alejandro Garnacho curled a shot narrowly wide of the far post.
Substitute Scott McTominay later controlled the ball in the City box before Varane’s strike was saved by Stefan Ortega and the ball bouncing up off the crossbar – eventually headed over and away from danger by a City defender.
Following six minutes of stoppage time the referee blew the whistle and City won 2–1, clinching their seventh FA Cup title.
Facts
- This was the first ever major final between Manchester City and Manchester United.
- This was the third meeting between City and United at Wembley Stadium with the other two both in 2011. City won an FA Cup semi-final 1-0 while the Red Devils won 3-2 in the Community Shield.
- Before the final, City didn’t concede a goal during their 2023 FA Cup run. Since 1888-89, only two teams have won the competition without conceding a goal – Preston North End in 1889 and Bury in 1903.
- City were the highest scorers in the 2023 FA Cup with 17 goals. The last team to score more in a single campaign were City themselves who scored 26 times on their way to lifting the title in 2019.
- Because this match was deemed “high risk” by the police, it was moved to a 15:00 start making it the first FA Cup final to kick-off at that time since 2011.
2023 FA Cup Results
Semi Final
Man City 3-0 Sheffield United, Brighton 0-0 Man Utd AET (6-7 P)
Sixth Round
Manchester City 6-0 Burnley, Sheffield United 3-2 Blackburn, Brighton 5-0 Grimsby Town, Manchester United 3-1 Fulham
Fifth Round
Stoke City 0-1 Brighton, Leicester City 1-2 Blackburn Rovers, Fulham 2-0 Leeds United, Bristol City 0-3 Manchester City, Southampton 1-2 Grimsby Town, Burnley 1-0 Fleetwood Town, Manchester United 3-1 West Ham, Sheffield United 1-0 Tottenham
Fourth Round
Manchester City 1–0 Arsenal, Accrington Stanley 1–3 Leeds United, Walsall 0–1 Leicester City, Blackburn Rovers 2–2 Birmingham City, Replay-Birmingham City 0–1 (a.e.t.) Blackburn Rovers, Bristol City 3–0 West Bromwich Albion, Fulham 1–1 Sunderland, Replay – Sunderland 2–3 Fulham, Ipswich Town 0–0 Burnley, Replay – Burnley 2–1 Ipswich Town, Luton Town 2–2 Grimsby Town, Replay – Grimsby Town 3–0 Luton Town, Sheffield Wednesday 1–1 Fleetwood Town, Replay – Fleetwood Town 1–0 Sheffield Wednesday, Southampton 2–1 Blackpool, Preston North End 0–3 Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United 3–1 Reading, Brighton & Hove Albion 2–1 Liverpool, Stoke City 3–1 Stevenage, Wrexham 3–3 Sheffield United, Replay – Sheffield United 3–1 Wrexham, Derby County 0–2 West Ham United
Third Round
Manchester United 3–1 Everton, Preston North End 3–1 Huddersfield Town, Tottenham Hotspur 1–0 Portsmouth, Gillingham 0–1 Leicester City, Crystal Palace 1–2 Southampton, Reading 2–0 Watford, Middlesbrough 1–5 Brighton & Hove Albion, Chesterfield 3–3 West Bromwich Albion, Replay – West Bromwich Albion 4–0 Chesterfield, Boreham Wood 1–1 Accrington Stanley, Replay – Accrington Stanley 1–0 (a.e.t.) Boreham Wood, Bournemouth 2–4 Burnley, Fleetwood Town 2–1 Queens Park Rangers, Blackpool 4–1 Nottingham Forest, Hull City 0–2 Fulham, Millwall 0–2 Sheffield United, Shrewsbury Town 1–2 Sunderland, Ipswich Town 4–1 Rotherham United, Brentford 0–1 West Ham United, Coventry City 3–4 Wrexham, Luton Town 1–1 Wigan Athletic, Replay- Wigan Athletic 1–2 Luton Town, Grimsby Town 1–0 Burton Albion, Sheffield Wednesday 2–1 Newcastle United, Liverpool 2–2 Wolverhampton Wanderers, Replay- Wolverhampton Wanderers 0–1 Liverpool, Derby County 3–0 Barnsley, Bristol City 1–1 Swansea City, Replay – Swansea City 1–2 (a.e.t.) Bristol City, Stockport County 1–2 Walsall, Cardiff City 2–2 Leeds United, Replay – Leeds United 5–2 Cardiff City, Norwich City 0–1 Blackburn Rovers, Hartlepool United 0–3 Stoke City, Manchester City 4–0 Chelsea, Aston Villa 1–2 Stevenage, Oxford United 0–3 Arsenal, Forest Green Rovers 1–2 Birmingham City
