Erik ten Hag’s men put up a spirited fight but were unable to claim their second piece of silverware of the season, falling to a narrow defeat at Wembley.
Pep Guardiola’s side completed a league-and-cup double and their dreams of winning the treble are still alive heading into next week’s Champions League final against Inter.
With just 12 seconds on the clock, Gundogan scored the fastest goal in the history of the FA Cup final. Stefan Ortega’s long punt forward was nodded forward by Erling Haaland and half-cleared by Victor Lindelof, with the ball falling kindly for the German midfielder to hit on the volley, firing into the top corner of David de Gea’s net.
Three minutes later, Rodri nearly headed in a second from an in-swinging Kevin De Bruyne free-kick, with his effort whistling past the near post.
Haaland’s movement and physicality continued to cause Man Utd problems. Midway through the first half, he shrugged Raphael Varane away from a bouncing ball and managed to beat him with a quick swivel before letting fly from 20 yards, but his strike sailed just over.
The Red Devils’ first sight of goal came when Casemiro clipped a ball into the 18-yard box and it was met by Marcus Rashford, but his header was weak and wayward, trickling way wide.
Despite their poor start, Man Utd were offered a reprieve when they were awarded a penalty. Bruno Fernandes’ cross-field ball was headed on by Aaron Wan-Bissaka and the ball deflected off the hand of the challenging Jack Grealish, and a spot kick was given following a VAR check.
Fernandes stepped up to take and rolled it home to equalise, marking the first time Man City have conceded in this season’s FA Cup.
Just before the break, Man Utd nearly took the lead against the run of play. A corner from Christian Eriksen was flicked on by Casemiro and the ball flew into the path of Varane, whose fast-thinking volley arrowed to the right of Ortega’s goal.
Within six minutes of the restart, Man City found themselves back in front. De Bruyne won a free-kick by the touchline after being cynically chopped down by Fred, and the Belgian pulled the ball back from the set piece to find Gundogan free on the edge of the box. The skipper again struck it on the volley, and though this time the contact wasn’t as clean, it still trickled past De Gea and in.
De Gea was at least able to deny De Bruyne directly when he made a darting run into the Man Utd box and fired from around 12 yards, keeping the midfielder out with a low save.
Rashford had to wait until the 69th minute to trouble Man City, neatly turning on the edge of the penalty area and unleashing a venomous strike which brushed the paintwork of the crossbar on the way over.
60 seconds later, Man City had the ball in the net for a third time. Grealish’s cut-back was swung towards goal by Haaland, and his shot was spilled by De Gea into the path of Gundogan to tap in. However, the offside flag was quickly up to deny him a hat-trick.
The game was opening back up a bit and substitute Alejandro Garnacho was inches away from equalising with a curled shot from 20 yards, only narrowly dragging it wide.
Man City nearly added another as the match entered the final 10 minutes when a cross from Bernardo Silva through the six yard box just about missed the onrushing Manuel Akanji.
Haaland then managed to dance and twist his way into the Man Utd box and force a challenge from Varane, whose tackle ricocheted off the Norwegian’s shins and mercifully wide.
Man Utd twice came within millimetres of equalising in stoppage time. Ortega did well to spread himself to deny Varane from close range, deflecting his effort onto the bar, before Scott McTominay’s rebound took a nick off a Man City player and bounced on top of the net.
But that was as close as the Red Devils came to levelling the final again and Man City held their nerve to take home the FA Cup.
