Wembley chaos made hundreds of Man City and Man Utd fans miss Ilkay Gundogan goal
Wembley chaos meant huge numbers of fans missed Ilkay Gundogan’s opening goal in Manchester City’s 2-1 FA Cup final victory over Manchester United.
i understands some fans with tickets were turned away and there were still huge queues outside the ground at kick-off.
On a day of nationwide rail strikes, with thousands of City and United fans making their way to London for the showpiece, i was told supporters had been contacted in advance and were strongly advised to arrive early, with the anticipation of delays at the turnstiles.
Gundogan scored the fastest goal in FA Cup final history 12 seconds into the match, eclipsing Louis Saha’s 25-second strike for Everton against Chelsea in 2009.
However, a significant portion of fans were not in their seats to witness it. One fan who did not give their name but sat in the City end, described the scenes outside as “chaotic”.
Roads leading to the stadium were also gridlocked with thousands of fans travelling by car in the absence of public transport.
Manchester United fan Chris Appleby, who travelled to Wembley by car, told i: “Me and my Dad attended the FA Cup final and were super excited, so due to the train strikes we made sure we left early to get there in plenty of time.
“What should have been an hour’s journey soon turned into three hours of chaos. We had to park the car and jog to the stadium to make it. We didn’t make it in time for the first goal and saw large groups of fans still queuing in the sun to get in.
“When we finally sat down, we noticed plenty of empty seats for at least the first 15 minutes. But they didn’t delay the kick off and the train strikes really made an impact.”
Police had prepared a huge logistical operation for the match, including directing United and City fans to separate service stations due to increased numbers travelling by motorway.
After Gundogan had opened the scoring, Bruno Fernandes went on to equalise for United from the penalty spot following a contentious Jack Grealish handball.
Gundogan then delivered his side’s second from the edge of the area to put City on the verge of a historic treble as they prepare to face Inter Milan in the Champions League final in Istanbul next week.
