Manchester United are through to the next round of the FA Cup after a heroic team performance saw them knock out Arsenal on penalties at the Emirates Stadium.
Bruno Fernandes set the ball rolling with a second-half goal but Diogo Dalot’s sending-off ensured Man Utd had to fight from underneath to secure a result.
Despite the referee’s mistakes, mostly against United, the squad banded together and saw through a tough period to come away with cup progression.
Micah Richards noticed something different which United did on the day that they rarely, if ever used to do earlier. Ruben Amorim deserves massive credit.
Micah Richards breaks down Man Utd difference
Man Utd are increasingly getting a reputation for turning up for the big games and occasions, a double-sided coin that has frustrated Ruben Amorim at times because it means they aren’t turning up for the other games.
However, the positive side of that is equally important as these are the sort of games United used to take heavy losses in mainly due to one thing.
That thing was a lack of mental fortitude, with the players being prone to collapsing completely as soon as one decision/moment went against them.
That led to results like the 0-7 loss at Anfield, or the 3-6 loss at the Etihad Stadium, and the countless collapses in Europe under Erik ten Hag.
More recently, it happened against Bournemouth and Newcastle when the team just felt like it had lied down and waited for the beating to be over.
Against Arsenal, they got a double whammy of Diogo Dalot’s red card and Arsenal’s equaliser. However, United finally flipped the script, buckled down, and got a massive result.
Micah Richards spoke on The Rest is Football podcast and noticed that difference.
He said: “[Man Utd] didn’t crumble and that is the difference. They are not playing brilliantly, there’s still a lot of work to do offensively but to play out the game after Dalot got sent off, for them to hold on, that’s a new maturity we’re seeing.
“We have to give them credit in terms of their spirit.”
Man Utd have flipped the narrative in two games
Richards’ words signify a complete change of the narrative at Old Trafford after the draw at Anfield and the cup progression at Arsenal.
This is the same United team that was lambasted, and rightly so, for their mental fragility and inconsistency after losing four games on the spin.
The inconsistency question will be answered in the coming week when they host the likes of Southampton and Rangers in the so-called “non-marquee games”.
In the meantime, the mental fragility questions have been answered to a large extent because United have come through adversity in both games against top opposition.
Be it equalising late against Liverpool or fighting for a result against Arsenal with ten men, that is something to build on.
Now to play the same way against Southampton…
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