Richard Money says his Cambridge side can leave Old Trafford with their heads held high, despite their FA Cup defeat by Manchester United.
“I’m extremely proud,” he said after the club’s 3-0 loss in the Fourth Round replay. “We came out of it with a lot of pride and a lot of credit.”
Louis van Gaal’s side booked their place in the Fifth Round thanks to first-half goals from Juan Mata and Marcos Rojo, and a late strike from James Wilson.
Manchester United 3-0 Cambridge United
FA Cup Fourth Round replay
Tuesday 3 February
Old Trafford, Manchester
Winners receive £90,000
Despite the relatively comfortable looking scoreline, the League Two side matched their illustrious hosts for large spells of the game – and even had the chance to take the lead in the opening seconds when Tom Elliot struck a post.
But Money said the miss was unlikely to have influenced the eventual outcome – and he was only disappointed for the 6,500 travelling fans who would have loved to have seen a goal.
“Would it have made any difference? Probably not,” he added.
Cambridge United boss Richard Money
“But what it would have done is give the players a lift and a bit more belief.
“It would have been wonderful for the fans to have seen us score a goal at Old Trafford but it wasn’t to be.
“At the end I just said to them that I thought they did themselves proud in the second half, and we have to use it to move forward and make sure we get points on the board in the league.”
Meanwhile, Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal said after the game that his side have an opportunity to end their eleven-year FA Cup drought.
“We have a real chance now,” he said.
“We are the highest qualified team in the FA Cup. Our status is the highest club, so the possibility is there.
“Arsenal and Liverpool are also both still in the Cup. So we have to wait and see. It’s not so easy.”
Manchester United now make the short trip to Preston North End for the Fifth Round tie.
The game will kick-off at 7.45pm on Monday 16 February and will be screened live on BT Sport.
