Erik ten Hag says Manchester United must use the pain of their narrow FA Cup final defeat to Manchester City to improve and eventually catch their dominant neighbours.
The eyes of the footballing world were on Wembley as these rivals went toe-to-toe in a major cup final for the first time on Saturday afternoon.
Ilkay Gundogan opened the scoring with a stunning volley after 12 seconds, with Bruno Fernandes’ penalty cancelling out the quickest goal in FA Cup final history.
But City regained the lead through another Gundogan volley to seal a 2-1 win, giving them a chance to emulate United’s 1999 treble heroes in next weekend’s Champions League final.
Many United fans had started the long, train strike-impacted journey home when their rivals lifted the trophy, but Ten Hag and his team watched those celebrations.
“First of all, show respect always,” the Dutchman said. “But, yeah, of course, it’s a motivation.
“You have to feel it in your stomach. This hurts and it has to be fuel.
“We want to be there and our team, my players, deserved it, but you have to grab it and that is the next step we have to make.”
It was a galling end to a promising first season under Ten Hag, who is proud to have overseen a third-placed finish, Carabao Cup win and narrow FA Cup final loss.
“I want to congratulate City for winning the FA Cup, but I think it was very narrow, it was head to head,” he said. “We played very competitive out of a very good organisation.
“We didn’t allow them out from open play against probably the best team in the world in this moment.
“We fought back after going a quick goal down and I think we are the only team in the world who is capable of fighting back against this team from City.
“So, yeah, I was happy with the performance of my team.”
David De Gea’s role has been debated all season and his part in City’s second goal has been called into question, leading Ten Hag to be asked whether he was comfortable having him going into next season.
“In this moment, I don’t want to talk about such issues, about criticism because we played all a great season, including David De Gea,” he said of the goalkeeper, who has yet to extend his contract beyond the summer.
“He played a fantastic season. If you consider that City and us before today both had 42 wins.
“Now they have one win more, so the difference was made today. Then you can tell we played a fantastic season and it’s more than we could have expected before.
“We were third in the league, we are qualified for the Champions League, and we won a trophy and we were in another final.
“So, yeah, I’m really happy with the performance from my team all over.”
Ten Hag bemoaned “soft goals” after a loss and season where the lack of quality and depth compared to treble-chasing City has been clear.
United have work to do in the summer but the interminable takeover process continues to hang over the club as the Glazer family drag the process out.
Co-owner Avram Glazer was at Wembley for the final and ignored questions about the takeover as he left through the interview area.
“I think in this moment I don’t want to discuss that,” Ten Hag said when asked about the takeover and summer improvements.
“It’s about finalising the season. We have to be quiet, analyse the season, go into the depth, then set the right conclusions and then take action. It’s about that.
“Of course, during the season you continually make your considerations and already some actions are into process.
“But, yeah, now the season is finished and the conclusion all over is we played a brilliant season.”
Asked if he has different plans for whether there is a takeover or not, Ten Hag said: “I have only one plan and that is to improve this club and to improve this team.
“I will fight for (that). I have my ideas and I already talked with the club about what we have to do for that.
“But also what I said, yeah, I have to work with my staff, with my players to be better in next season.”
Bristol City Women 0-4 Man City Women: Hosts relegated as Fowler double inspires WSL leaders
Mary Fowler scored twice to set WSL leaders Manchester City on their way to a 4-0 rout of Bristol City, who suffered relegation as a result, on Sunday.
With Arsenal having drawn with Everton earlier in the day, Man City knew a victory would be enough to take the title race down to two teams.
That victory duly arrived in emphatic fashion, with all four of Man City's goals arriving in the second half.
Fowler's fantastic strike opened the scoring in the 62nd minute, with the Australia international doubling her tally soon after, paving the way for an Amy Rodgers own goal and Alex Greenwood's late header to seal a huge victory.
Arsenal are now out of the title race, with Chelsea - who have two games in hand on Gareth Taylor's team - the only side capable of catching Man City.
The Robins, meanwhile, will be playing in the second tier again next term.
Data Debrief: Bristol heading down with a whimper
Bristol City have failed to score in their last five games in the WSL, a run of 544 minutes without a goal.
They mustered just 0.09 expected goals (xG) to Man City's 3.4, with the visitors having now kept a clean sheet in nine of their 20 league games this season.
De Rossi demands more from 'tired' Roma ahead of crunch run
Daniele De Rossi acknowledged his Roma team may be tired, but he insisted they must not allow themselves to be embarrassed.
Roma fought back to draw 2-2 with last season's Serie A champions Napoli in a pulsating fixture on Sunday.
Tammy Abraham's late header secured a point for De Rossi's team, who took the lead through Paulo Dybala's penalty before going behind to goals from Matias Olivera and Victor Osimhen.
With Serie A set to have five teams in the Champions League next season, Roma occupy fifth spot with four matches remaining, but sixth-placed Atalanta are just two points behind with a game in hand.
There is also the small matter of a Europa League semi-final against Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen on the cards over the coming weeks, and De Rossi set the stall out.
"We drew, it is not a result to throw away, but it is not the result or the performance that we wanted," Roma coach Daniele De Rossi told Sky Sports Italia.
"At times you can steal the ball off Napoli, but we then gave it back again too many times. Napoli had a lot of chances in the first half, we did better in the second, but we have to do better.
"Look, we are tired, but we cannot start thinking that we’re tired and that means we can be embarrassed in the final few weeks of the season."
Roma host Leverkusen on Thursday before taking on Juventus on May 5, with a crunch clash against Atalanta – who are also into the Europa League semi-finals – set to follow after the away leg against Xabi Alonso's team.
Key to a successful end to the campaign for Roma will be keeping Dybala fit. The Argentine has been involved in the joint-most goals (12) in Serie A since the turn of the year, scoring nine and setting up three, level with Juve's Dusan Vlahovic.
PSG's latest Ligue 1 title arrives as Monaco lose to Lyon
Paris Saint-Germain have been crowned as Ligue 1 champions after Lyon overcame Monaco 3-2 on Sunday.
A 4-1 midweek win over Lorient ensured that one more victory would be enough for Luis Enrique's team to get over the line, but PSG failed to get the job done themselves when they faced relegation-threatened Le Havre on Saturday.
That game was the 700th match of the QSI era at PSG, and the club's 1,900th in France's top flight.
However, PSG's wait to win their third straight title did not last long, as less than 24 hours later, Lyon – who will face the Parisians in the final of the Coupe de France at the end of May – came out on top in a topsy turvy encounter with second-placed Monaco.
Substitute Malick Fofana was the matchwinner for Lyon, and ultimately the player who handed the title to PSG.
Wissam Ben Yedder had put Monaco ahead in the opening minute, but quickfire goals from Alexandre Lacazette and Said Benrahma turned the match on its head before half-time.
Ben Yedder netted his second to restore parity on the hour mark, and thought he had sealed his hat-trick when he volleyed in from a free-kick, only to have strayed offside.
With only a win good enough for Monaco to stay in the fight, the visitors were then caught out in the 84th minute, with Fofana racing onto Lacazette's throughball and finishing calmly.
After a dismal start to the season, relegation looked a real possibility for Lyon, but they are now, with three games remaining, still in with a shout of qualifying for Europe.
PSG on the other hand now have 12 Ligue 1 titles to their name, with 10 of those coming under QSI's ownership. Aside from the COVID-impacted 2019-20 season, five of their last six league titles have been secured before the start of May.
It also means Luis Enrique remains in the running for a treble in his first season at the club, with PSG taking on Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League semi-finals next week.
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