Manchester United proved the doubters wrong and secured a 13th FA Cup trophy by beating Manchester City 2-1 on Saturday afternoon.
United came into the game with few pundits predicting a victory for Erik ten Hag.
United fans have even had doubts but what we saw was a superb performance in the Wembley sun.
Alejandro Garnacho profited from a City mistake to make it 1-0 before Kobbie Mainoo calmly slotted home number two from an exquisite Bruno Fernandes assist.
United limited City throughout, turning in an outstanding performance off the ball to frustrate Pep Guardiola’s side.
Jeremy Doku did pull one back but United got the job done, securing a 2-1 victory and yet another FA Cup to add to the tally.
Sir Alex Ferguson reacts to Manchester United win
United really needed this superb victory to bring a real high to what has been a difficult season.
Amid all the question marks surrounding Erik ten Hag’s future, perhaps this can be the career-altering moment for the Dutchman.
Sir Alex Ferguson had one of those himself with Mark Robins – the man who so nearly dumped United out in the semi-finals with Coventry City – scoring a crucial goal to help swing Ferguson’s United reign.
Ferguson was in attendance at Wembley Stadium, watching United beat the ‘noisy neighbours’ in a memorable victory.
The Telegraph’s Mike McGrath has now noted that Ferguson offered just one word when asked for his thoughts on United’s win in the Wembley tunnel.
Ferguson simply stated ‘fantastic’, summing up United’s performance and the day as a whole with Ten Hag able to secure a second trophy in two seasons.
Ten Hag may still lose his job straight after an FA Cup final win – just like his compatriot Louis van Gaal – but he has added to United’s trophy cabinet again.
That should not be overlooked and as Ineos make their decision on the Dutchman’s future, they have been given plenty to think about with that cup final win.
United’s second FA Cup victory since Ferguson exit
One strange quirk has been United’s relative lack of FA Cup final wins.
United won six FA Cups between 1980 and 2000, which was a pretty decent record.
Ferguson won it in 1999 as part of the famous treble before adding another with a win over Millwall in 2004.
Since Ferguson left the club in 2013, United have remarkably won the FA Cup just twice.
As mentioned earlier, Van Gaal achieved victory in 2016 before being ruthlessly replaced with Jose Mourinho.
Ten Hag now adds another one to the list but three FA Cup wins since the turn of the millennium is bizarre and somewhat disappointing.
Let’s hope that this squad now kicks on and maybe even wins a few more FA Cups in the coming years, whether Ten Hag is at the club or not.