Everton stun United with shootout win

Sir Alex Ferguson was furious with the decision not to award his side a penalty

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Sunday, 19, Apr 2009 09:09

Manchester United have crashed out of the FA Cup after losing 4-2 to Everton on penalties in the semi-final at Wembley.

After a goalless 120 minutes, Phil Jagielka scored the decisive spot-kick after Dimitar Berbatov and Rio Ferdinand's efforts were saved.

David Moyes' men will meet Chelsea in the FA Cup final on May 30th.
Sir Alex Ferguson named a surprising line-up and opted for youngsters including Danny Welbeck and Federico Macheda, while Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, and Ryan Giggs were left out of the squad.

And the absence of United's star players resulted in a dire game with
few chances created.

Macheda, who has scored two late winners for United this month, came close with a volley that flew wide, while former United player Phil Neville drilled an effort from 18 yards off-target.

The second-half was similarly uninspiring with the Toffees failing to capitalise on Ferguson's inexperienced line-up. Tim Cahill created the first shot of target with a long-range strike that was beaten away by Ben Foster.

United cranked up the tempo with Darron Gibson's shot from 30 yards parried by Tim Howard while Ji Sung-Park lashed a shot wide.

The talking point came midway through the half when Welbeck felt he should have been awarded a penalty when he was tripped by Phil Jagielka, but referee Mike Riley waved play on despite Ferguson's
protests.

Both sides created half-chances in the closing minutes with Joleon Lescott heading wide following a corner, while teenage striker Macheda sliced a shot wide after Howard's feeble punch clear.

There was little improvement in extra time with substitute James Vaughan's shot trickling inches wide.

In the eventual shootout, the Toffees made a nightmare start with Cahill blazing his spot-kick over.

But Berbatov and Ferdinand both had their spot-kicks saved by Howard, while Leighton Baines, Neville, and Vaughan kept their cool to score.

Jagielka scored the winning spot-kick to put Everton into their first
Cup final since 1995 and end United's dreams of a grand slam of trophies.