 The match took place atWembley Stadium | |||||||
| Event | 2022–23 FA Cup | ||||||
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| Date | 3 June 2023 (2023-06-03) | ||||||
| Venue | Wembley Stadium,London | ||||||
| Man of the Match | İlkay Gündoğan(Manchester City)[1] | ||||||
| Referee | Paul Tierney (Lancashire)[2] | ||||||
| Attendance | 83,179 | ||||||
| Weather | Partly cloudy | ||||||
←2022 2024 → | |||||||
The2023 FA Cup final was the final match of the2022–23 FA Cup, the 142nd season of the oldestfootball tournament in the world, theFootball Association Challenge Cup. It was played atWembley Stadium in London on 3 June 2023 betweenManchester City andManchester United, making it the first time theManchester derby was contested in a cup final.
Manchester City won the match 2–1 for their seventh FA Cup title and seconddouble.İlkay Gündoğan broke the record for the fastest goal ever in an FA Cup final, scoring after just 12 seconds.
As winners Manchester City qualified for theUEFA Champions League tournament via their position in the2022–23 Premier League, the2023–24 UEFA Europa League position went to the sixth-placed Premier League team (Brighton & Hove Albion), while the2023–24 UEFA Europa Conference League play-off round spot allocated to the team that finished sixth in the Premier League was awarded to the seventh-placed team (Aston Villa).
As winners of both the Premier League and FA Cup, Manchester City qualified for the2023 FA Community Shield, which they loston penalties to Premier League runners-upArsenal.
The 2023 final marked the 100th anniversary of the first FA Cup final to be played at the originalWembley Stadium, the venue replaced by thecurrent stadium in 2007.[3] It was Manchester United's 21st appearance in the FA Cup final, tying the record set by Arsenal on their last appearance in2020, and their first since2018. Manchester City made their 12th FA Cup final appearance and their first since2019.
It was the first time that the two Manchester clubs met in the FA Cup final, but the tenth such meeting at any stage of the competition and the 190thManchester derby in total. The two clubs split the results between them in the Premier League during the season; City won the first match 6–3 at theCity of Manchester Stadium in October 2022,[4] while United won 2–1 atOld Trafford in January 2023.[5]
Manchester City were seeking to win thecontinental treble of the Premier League, FA Cup andUEFA Champions League, attempting to emulate the feat managed by Manchester United in1998–99; they facedInter Milan in the2023 UEFA Champions League final a week after the FA Cup final, winning 1–0 and completing the treble. Manchester United were looking to secure their second trophy under managerErik ten Hag, having won theEFL Cup in February 2023. They also had once successfully denied an opponent of a continental treble chase before – in1977 at the expense ofLiverpool.
A UK-widetrain strike took place on the day of the final.[6]
| Manchester City | Round | Manchester United | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opposition | Score | Opposition | Score | |
| Chelsea (H) | 4–0 | 3rd | Everton (H) | 3–1 |
| Arsenal (H) | 1–0 | 4th | Reading (H) | 3–1 |
| Bristol City (A) | 3–0 | 5th | West Ham United (H) | 3–1 |
| Burnley (H) | 6–0 | QF | Fulham (H) | 3–1 |
| Sheffield United (N) | 3–0 | SF | Brighton & Hove Albion (N) | 0–0 (a.e.t.) (7–6p) |
| Key: (H) = Home venue; (A) = Away venue; (N) =Neutral venue | ||||
As Premier League clubs, both Manchester City and Manchester United entered the FA Cup in the third round. City began with a 4–0 home victory over2022 finalistsChelsea at the City of Manchester Stadium,[7] while United beatEverton 3–1 at Old Trafford.[8] In the fourth round, City again played at home, where they beat 14-time FA Cup winners Arsenal 1–0.[9] United also faced another home tie in the fourth round, claiming another 3–1 victory overReading.[10] They managed yet another 3–1 home win in the fifth round, this time againstWest Ham United,[11] while City beatBristol City 3–0 atAshton Gate Stadium.[12]
In the quarter-finals, Manchester City returned to the City of Manchester Stadium, where they recorded a 6–0 win overBurnley,[13] while United won 3–1 at Old Trafford for the fourth game in a row, Fulham this time the team on the receiving end.[14] The semi-finals were both played at Wembley Stadium, with City facingSheffield United on 22 April and United taking onBrighton & Hove Albion the next day. City won their tie 3–0,[15] while United and Brighton played out a goalless drawafter extra time that had to be decided on penalties; United won the shoot-out 7–6.[16]
Just 12 seconds into the match,İlkay Gündoğan opened the scoring for Manchester City with a right-footed volley from just outside the penalty area, making it the fastest goal in FA Cup Final history.[17] The previous fastest goal wasLouis Saha's in the2009 final forEverton which came after 25 seconds.[18] City pushed for a second goal soon after, as a free-kick into the United penalty area byKevin De Bruyne was narrowly headed wide byRodri.Erling Haaland also had a chance to double City's lead, but an effort from him ended up drifting over the goal. United soon began to develop a spell of possession themselves, and they were rewarded for their forays into the City half as theVAR concluded that the ball had struckJack Grealish's hand inside the penalty area.Bruno Fernandes converted the penalty for United, to make it 1–1 after 33 minutes. United did not let up in their spell of dominance in the final minutes of the first half, asRaphaël Varane had a chance from a corner to slot the ball into the net but hit his effort over the bar.[19]
In the 51st minute, De Bruyne whipped in a free-kick towards the United penalty area which fell to Gündoğan from just outside the area who then struck the ball first time with his left foot into the bottom left hand corner of the net, withDavid de Gea unable to keep out, for his second of the match and regain City's lead early in the second half. City kept up their pressure on United as the second half progressed, as De Bruyne found himself with a good chance running towards goal but his resulting effort was saved by de Gea's foot. United then began to pile more pressure themselves, as an effort from just outside the City penalty area fromMarcus Rashford flew over the bar. At the other end of the field, City thought they had scored a third after an effort from Haaland was saved by de Gea before Gündoğan put the ball in the net from the rebound for what would have been his hat-trick. However, the goal was immediately disallowed by the referee after Gündoğan was shown to have been in an offside position when Haaland tried the initial shot. City did come close again to scoring a third, as a ball across the face of the United goal fromBernardo Silva was nearly tapped in at the back post byManuel Akanji. Into the latter stages of the match, United's desperate search for an equaliser nearly earned them a goal asAlejandro Garnacho fired narrowly wide of the far post from the left hand side of the penalty area, before substituteScott McTominay controlled the ball down inside the City penalty area, where Varane attempted to slot the ball into the net but was thwarted byStefan Ortega. The ball bounced up off the crossbar, and was headed narrowly over courtesy of desperate defending from City. The match ended after six minutes of stoppage time, with City winning 2–1.[20]
Because the match was deemed "high risk" by the police, it was moved to a 15:00 start, the first FA Cup final to kick-off at that time since2011.[21]
          Manchester City |      Manchester United |
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Man of the Match: Assistant referees:[2] | Match rules
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