FA Cup Final: Manchester United eye redemption

Anthony Martial goes into Saturday’s FA Cup final against Crystal Palace as the potential saviour of Manchester United’s season. (Photo: AFP )

Manchester United will attempt to salvage something from their tumultuous season — and potentially keep manager Louis van Gaal in a job — in Saturday’s FA Cup final against Crystal Palace.

After failing to qualify for the Champions League for the second time in three years, the Wembley showpiece represents United’s last chance to make good on a campaign of stagnant football and simmering fan dissent.

van Gaal was booed as he addressed supporters following Tuesday’s 3-1 home win over Bournemouth and although victory against Palace would give United their first significant piece of silverware since Alex Ferguson left in 2013, reports suggest that his days at Old Trafford are numbered regardless.

“I think the interests of the club are much more important than the manager,” van Gaal said on Thursday when asked how the outcome of Saturday’s game might impact on his future. “Of course, you have put your own aims. (Winning the FA Cup) is one I have always had.”

While United have not won the FA Cup since 2004, when they beat Millwall 3-0 in Cardiff, victory on Saturday would see them equal Arsenal’s tally of 12 successes in the competition — a record they once held outright.

As well as giving van Gaal a first trophy in English football, it would also enable Wayne Rooney, the captain, and Michael Carrick to claim the only top-level medals that have eluded them during their spells at the club. van Gaal already has reason to thank the tournament, for it has provided several melodious moments this season amid the steady background hum of speculation about his future.

Anthony Martial provided a moment to savour in last month’s semi-final against Everton, driving into the box from the left in stoppage time to net a deliriously celebrated winner.

If van Gaal is looking for positive omens, it will not have escaped his attention that the last under-fire United manager to go into an FA Cup final against Palace with his neck on the line was Ferguson.

Prior to the 1990 final, Ferguson had gone three and a half years without a trophy, but following a gripping 3-3 draw, a solitary goal by left-back Lee Martin earned United a 1-0 victory in the replay.

One of the players who traipsed from the pitch in Palace’s unfamiliar black and yellow change strip was 28-year-old midfielder Alan Pardew, who is now the south London club’s manager.

Pardew etched his name in Palace folklore by netting an extra-time winner against Liverpool in the semi-finals and 26 years later, he is seeking to steer the club to their first major trophy.