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Manchester United secured their passage through to the FA Cup final on Sunday after a nerve-wrecking 14 kick penalty shoot-out win at Wembley on Sunday.
The teams could not be separated after 90 minutes of regulation time and 30 minutes of extra time, which led to the game going to the lottery of penalties.
After a spotless six kicks each, Solly March skied his effort and Victor Lindelof scored the ensuing spot-kick to send the Red Devils through to the FA Cup final for the 21st time in their history.
Back four was immense vs Brighton
Both teams did not have the best of games with the Seagulls dominating possession while United created the better chances in the second-half.
The victory is a huge boost for the 20-time English league champions who had suffered elimination from the Europa League at the quarterfinal stage mid-week.
The team went into the contest without both their first-choice centre-backs Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez while skipper Harry Maguire was also suspended for the game.
Even the most ardent United fan would have been worried after what they had seen against Sevilla. United had to employ a make-shift backline of Lindelof and Luke Shaw, with both flanked by Diogo Dalot and Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
But with David de Gea going long most of the time, Brighton had most of the ball and the defence had to be on top of their game and they were.
Wan-Bissaka hardly allowed the dangerous Kaoru Mitoma any chances while Lindelof and Shaw always made the right decisions and while one pressed high, the other stayed back.
ETH could have found his back four for season finale
Manager Erik ten Hag will be super pleased after not having played this particular backline ever before and from the response from his under-pressure players.
Even when Maguire gets back, Ten Hag must be thinking of playing this back four, especially in games where the opposition are expected to have more of the ball.
Seven spotless penalties was a testament to the mentality that has been built up under the Dutch manager.
The reward for this is the first-ever Manchester Derby in the FA Cup final. And it could be in United’s hands to stop Pep Guardiola from emulating the famous Treble.
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