Tyrese Haliburton says a fan directed a racial slur at his younger brother while he was in attendance for Game 1 of the Indiana Pacers' playoff series with the Milwaukee Bucks at Fiserv Forum.

The Pacers guard made the claim during his post-game news conference after Indiana returned to Milwaukee for Game 2 on Tuesday, levelling up the series with a 125-108 win.

Haliburton, who was born in Wisconsin, has made his first two playoff appearances in his home state, with the Pacers dropping the first contest by a 109-94 scoreline on Sunday.

After they bounced back with Tuesday's win, in which Haliburton had 12 points and 12 assists, he addressed the incident upon being asked about his experience of returning to Wisconsin. 

"My little brother in the stands the other day was called the N-word," Haliburton said. "It was important for us as a family to just address that. 

"That was important for us to talk about because that just didn't sit right with anybody in our family. 

"It's just been important to have my family here right now. My little brother has handled that the right way."

He then added: "The team did a good job of handling this environment. The conversation… it's friendly during the regular season because I'm the hometown kid, but it's a little different when you're visiting in this environment."

The Bucks were asked about the incident after Tuesday's game, with a team spokesperson saying the accused individual denied the accusation. 

"An arena guest services representative reported that during Sunday's game a few guests were not sitting in their correct seats," a Bucks spokesperson said.

"The guest services representative asked the group to move one section over to their correct seats. Then, one of the individuals in the group claimed to the representative that a person sitting in front of him had used a derogatory term toward him. 

"The accused person denied the accusation. The group moved to their correct seats and no further incident was reported. We take our fan environment extremely seriously and are committed to providing a safe and secure experience."

Pascal Siakam was the star of Game 2 as his 37-point haul helped the Pacers overcome another fast start from Bucks guard Damian Lillard, who had 26 first-half points in the absence of two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.

"We've got to be the hungry team," Siakam said after the game. "We've got to be the team that's coming in and wanting to show something. 

"That's the attitude that we’ve got to have against those guys, because they've done it before."

Harry Maguire accepts there will be big changes at Manchester United at the end of the season, but he says everyone at the club must remain together amid fierce criticism of their displays.

United have endured a miserable second season under Erik ten Hag, sitting seventh in the Premier League table and 16 points adrift of the top four ahead of Wednesday's visit of Sheffield United.

They could yet end the campaign with silverware after reaching the FA Cup final with Sunday's penalty shoot-out victory over Coventry City, but they have been heavily criticised after narrowly avoiding a humiliating loss in that semi-final.

Ten Hag's men squandered a 3-0 lead and were fortunate to avoid a 4-3 defeat in the dying moments of extra time, when Victor Torp's potential winner was disallowed for a marginal offside call.

Roy Keane said United's players looked "embarrassed" to win the tie, though Ten Hag later said it was the negative media coverage of his team that was embarrassing.

Speaking to Sky Sports ahead of Wednesday's meeting with his former club, Maguire said: "I've been at this club a long enough time to know that the noise around the place is always here, whether it's with the manager or the players.

"There are players under huge amounts of pressure and when you lose matches or go on bad runs, the manager comes under pressure as well.

"We all know it's about maintaining our focus and aims for the season and sticking together. We believe that we can still achieve things this season.

"We've got an FA Cup final, Premier League games to fight in and we're all in this together. The manager, the players, the fans, we all want the same thing and that's to be successful."

United's players celebrated Sunday's win in a muted fashion, with the exception of winger Antony, who has been roundly mocked for cupping his ears to taunt Coventry's players. 

Reflecting on the end of that game, Maguire said: "It was a really strange mix of emotions. I don't think we needed to celebrate too hard. 

"We let ourselves down in the last 20 minutes of normal time and to play for this club, it involves huge responsibility, and we didn't take responsibility in that last 20 minutes.

"You're coming to training the next day and you're in another FA Cup final. It's what you dream of playing in when you're a young boy, so the boys are really happy.

"But like I said, the way the game ended, we were disappointed with the way we acted."

A decision on Ten Hag's future is one of many which must be made by new minority shareholder Jim Ratcliffe in the coming weeks, after the INEOS founder was handed full control of football operations at Old Trafford. 

Maguire has faith in INEOS to get things right in the close season, saying: "They've brought a lot of positivity to the club and to the fanbase. I think there will be changes and rightly so.

"The club is wanting to get back to where it was 15 years ago, and that's fighting for the big trophies and league titles. I'm sure they have a plan."

Rudy Gobert declared nobody wants to face the Minnesota Timberwolves' defense after they opened up a 2-0 series lead over the Phoenix Suns with a 105-93 win in Game 2 on Tuesday.

Gobert joined Mike Conley Jr. in scoring 18 points in support of Jaden McDaniels, who had 25 as the third-seeded Wolves tightened their grip on the series at Target Center.

The Suns' star trio of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal were held to a combined 18 for 45 from the field, the team failing to score triple figures for the second time in the series. 

Three-time Defensive Player of the Year Gobert – who averaged 9.2 defensive rebounds, 0.7 steals and 2.1 blocks per game through the regular season – is relishing the Wolves' steely reputation. 

"We can see it. I can feel it. I can see them. It's tough," Gobert said. "No one likes going against the type of defense that we're playing right now."

The Suns' woes were compounded when they lost guard Grayson Allen in the third quarter, the 28-year-old aggravating the right ankle sprain he suffered in Game 1.

Guarding Conley on a drive, Allen jumped in an attempt to block his opponent's shot and landed awkwardly. Having been helped from the court, he was ruled out for the rest of the game.

Suns coach Frank Vogel later told reporters X-rays on Allen's ankle had been negative, so his condition will be assessed on a day-to-day basis ahead of Game 3 on Friday.

"It's just a little bit tougher since I was in the air and landing, but when I watched the replay, it looked like I landed on someone's heel and rolled it pretty hard," Allen said.

On the only previous occasion on which Minnesota took a 2-0 lead in a playoff series, they went on to eliminate the Denver Nuggets 4-1 in the first round in 2004.

However, as the series heads to Footprint Center, Booker says nothing is decided yet.

"Don't count us out," Booker said. "It's a series for a reason." 

Mauricio Pochettino slammed Chelsea's lack of consistency after they were thrashed 5-0 by Arsenal on Tuesday, saying: "When we have bad days, we are so bad." 

Chelsea travelled to the Emirates Stadium looking to close the gap to the Premier League's top seven, but instead saw their European hopes further dented by a chastening 5-0 defeat. 

The defeat was Chelsea's heaviest ever against the Gunners in all competitions, and their worst in a London derby since they lost 6-0 to Queens Park Rangers in March 1986.

The fact that dismal performance came just three days after Chelsea pushed Manchester City close in the teams' FA Cup semi-final only served to rile Pochettino.

"We are showing this inconsistency and that is why we are where we are," Pochettino said.

"We are able to have an amazing performance and then one like this. When we have bad days, we are so bad. It's difficult to talk. We were talking in the same way after last season.

"We put in a fantastic performance at Wembley and then today, you can lose a game at Arsenal but in the way we competed… why one day, three days ago and then today in this way?"

Chelsea have now conceded 57 goals in the Premier League this season, their outright most in a single campaign in the competition, having previously shipped 55 in both 1994-95 and 1996-97.

In attack, they managed just one shot on target in the absence of Cole Palmer, with the Premier League's joint-leading goalscorer missing out due to illness.

Asked about the impact of losing Palmer, Pochettino added: "It wasn't the reason we lost the game, but you lose such a creative player that helps to play in the lines. 

"It's difficult to lose players in these circumstances – that made the management very difficult. But today was more than that.

"We didn't compete from the beginning and it was difficult to be in the game against a team fighting for the Premier League. It's no coincidence. 

"We need to compete in a different way but we are talking too much. We want to be in a different position next season. We need to take decisions."

Luka Dončić had 32 points, nine assists and six rebounds and the Dallas Mavericks overcame the return of Kawhi Leonard in a 96-93 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday to even their Western Conference first-round playoff series at a game apiece.

Kyrie Irving added 23 points and PJ Washington had 18 for the Mavericks, who send the series back to Dallas for Game 3 on Friday.

Leonard had 15 points and seven rebounds in 35 minutes in his first game since March 31. He didn’t play or engage in any contact practices during that stretch because of inflammation in his surgically repaired knee.

Paul George and James Harden each scored 22 points and Ivica Zubac added 13 with 12 rebounds for the Clippers, who shot 36.8 percent (32 for 87) from the field and missed 22 of 30 from long range.

The Clippers led 73-67 with 9:32 remaining but the Mavs scored 14 straight points for an 81-73 lead with 5:18 left. After Russell Westbrook hit a 3, Washington answered with a 3 to make it 84-76.

Maxi Kleber and Doncic made consecutive 3s to extend Dallas’ lead to 90-81 with 1:26 to play and Irving sealed the win with three free throws in the final 12 seconds.

Timberwolves stifle Suns for 2-0 lead

Jaden McDaniels scored 25 points and the Minnesota Timberwolves didn’t need another big performance from Anthony Edwards in a 105-93 win over the Phoenix Suns for a 2-0 lead in their first-round series.

Mike Conley and Rudy Gobert each scored 18 points while Edwards was limited to 15 on 3-of-12 shooting after he had 33 points in the series opener.

Minnesota held the Suns’ big three of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal to a combined 18 for 45 from the field. Booker had 20 points and Durant 18 for the Suns, who head home for Game 3 on Friday faced with a 2-0 series deficit.

Phoenix lost starting guard Grayson Allen to an aggravated ankle sprain in the third quarter, during which the Wolves used a 12-0 run to turn a 63-60 deficit into a 72-63 lead.

The lead was down to 84-76 in the fourth quarter, but Minnesota scored the next seven points and was never threatened thereafter.

Siakam helps Pacers get even

Pascal Siakam poured in 37 points and the Indiana Pacers survived another stellar start by Damian Lillard to defeat the Milwaukee Bucks, 125-108, evening their Eastern Conference playoff series at a game apiece.

Myles Turner scored 22 points, Andrew Nembhard added 20 and Tyrese Haliburton had 12 points and 12 assists for the Pacers, who snapped a 10-game playoff losing streak that started with a Game 7 loss to Cleveland in a first-round series in 2018.

Siakam shot 16 of 23 from the field and had 11 rebounds and six assists.

Lillard had 26 points by halftime in this one after scoring all 35 of his points in the first half in the Bucks’ 109-94 victory in Game 1. He finished with 34 on 10-of-21 shooting – including 6 of 13 from 3-point range.

The Bucks were again without two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, who sat with a strained left calf.

Tyler Freeman and Bryan Rocchio delivered RBIs in the seventh inning and Jose Ramirez homered to lift the Cleveland Guardians to their fifth straight victory, 4-1 over the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday.

The Guardians improved the majors’ best record to 17-6, matching their best start through 23 games. Cleveland also was 17-6 in 1999 and 1966.

Ben Lively allowed one run and five hits over 6 1/3 innings in his Progressive Field debut. He walked one and struck out seven.

Scott Barlow and Hunter Gaddis got the next five outs before Emmanuel Clase struck out the side in the ninth for his seventh save.

Tanner Houck, who threw a three-hit shutout against Cleveland last week, held the Guardians scoreless through six innings before Freeman singled home Will Brennan and Rocchio’s sacrifice fly in the seventh put Cleveland ahead.

Rob Refsnyder had three hits as Boston had a three-game winning streak snapped.

Fried dominates Marlins

Max Fried pitched a three-hitter for Atlanta’s first complete game since 2022 and Adam Duvall belted a two-run homer as the surging Braves blanked the Miami Marlins for the second straight night, 5-0.

Fried didn’t walk anyone and struck out six, needing just 92 pitches to become the first Braves pitcher to complete nine innings since Bryce Elder in an 8-0 win over Washington on Sept. 26, 2022.

Fried notched his fourth career shutout and fifth career complete game as Atlanta won its eighth in nine games.

The Marlins have gone 20 innings without scoring a run and dropped to 6-19.

Duvall’s second home run of the season capped a three-run sixth and extended the lead to 5-0.

Cubs keep Astros reeling

Mike Tauchman hit his first two home runs of the season and the Chicago Cubs scored five first-inning runs in a 7-2 win over the Houston Astros, who dropped 10 games under .500 for the first time since 2016.

Cody Bellinger had a two-run blast in the first inning off J.P. France and Tauchman capped the fast start with a three-run shot. He added a solo home run in the eighth.

Houston has lost three straight and six of seven and, at 7-17, is 10 games under .500 for the first time since an 18-28 start in 2016.

Jordan Wicks limited the Astros to two runs and five hits over a season-best six innings with no walks and four strikeouts.

Paris Saint-Germain could secure their third straight Ligue 1 title if they defeat Lorient and Monaco fail to beat Lille – but Luis Enrique is not expecting his struggling opponents to hand them any favours.

If Monaco draw or lose against Lille on Wednesday and PSG win away at 17th-placed Lorient, the Parisians would clinch their record 12th league title.

Luis Enrique's side have an 11-point lead over second-placed Monaco with five matches remaining, and a far superior goal difference having lost just one game.

"It's going to be a very difficult game," Enrique told reporters on Tuesday. "When you're at the bottom of the table, you don't have much to lose.

"Generally, teams at the bottom of the table manage to get unexpected results at the end of the season.

"There's a lot at stake. The possibility of being crowned champions is enough to make you pay attention."

The former Barcelona boss, who moved to the French capital last July, is chasing a possible quadruple after PSG booked a Champions League semi-final berth and a spot in the Coupe de France final. PSG secured the Trophee des Champions title in January.

"It motivates us but for the moment, we only have one title, we have to win the league and keep fighting to win it all. It's a long and winding road ahead," Luis Enrique said.

Luis Enrique once again declined to comment on the future of Kylian Mbappe, Ligue 1's highest scorer for the last five seasons.

France captain Mbappe, 25, has been heavily linked with a move to Spanish giants Real Madrid.

PSG, formed in 1970 via the merger of Paris Football Club and Stade Saint-Germain, have won nine of the last 11 Ligue 1 titles.

Mbappe's frustration lies with their performances in the Champions League, however, a trophy they have never lifted despite huge amounts of investment in the squad.

"When Kylian speaks in public, I'll do the same," Luis Enrique said.

Mikel Arteta hailed an “unbelievable” performance from Kai Havertz after his two goals helped Arsenal move three points clear at the top of the Premier League with a thumping 5-0 win over Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium.

The 24-year-old, who struggled in his early appearances after swapping Stamford Bridge for north London in the summer, gave a superb display against his former side as the leaders heaped more misery on visiting manager Mauricio Pochettino, who saw his ninth-place team slump to a worst-ever league defeat against Arsenal.

Havertz struck twice as part of an 18-minute blitz in the second half as Arteta’s team won for the second time in four days, continuing their recovery from successive losses to Aston Villa and Bayern Munich.

“He (Havertz) was unbelievable, in all departments,” said Arteta.

“For a nine to score two goals the way he scored, his contribution was great. It’s a question for him but I’m sure he’s very pleased.”

The Arsenal onslaught began after only four minutes, Declan Rice sliding the ball into a channel on the left of the penalty area from where Leandro Trossard took over, dinking past defender Alfie Gilchrist, on his first Premier League start, and thudding it through the legs of Djordje Petrovic.

Thereafter Chelsea competed gamely, going close to equalising when Axel Disasi just failed to reach a flick-on from a corner and again when Nicolas Jackson’s effort was deflected onto the post by Gabriel, but in the space of under 20 minutes after the interval they fell to pieces.

First, Ben White reacted quickest to sweep home after Rice’s shot was blocked, then Havertz got his first of the night with a lofted finish over the goalkeeper.

The former Chelsea forward made it 4-0, his shot pinging in off the post with Petrovic rooted, before White provided the moment of the match with a cross-shot that sailed across the face of goal and in from Martin Odegaard’s pass.

“It was a big performance, collectively and individually,” said Arteta, whose side moved clear at the top ahead of Sunday’s derby against Tottenham but have played a game more than Liverpool and two more than Manchester City.

“I thought we were really good, against a really good team that was in great form and were going to ask us a lot of questions. I think we responded really well.

“From the start we were really determined, really flowing, playing with a lot of courage and making things happen. Really happy with the result. It’s a big day for our supporters.

“It’s great for us, for the confidence and for the belief that we can do it, we can come to these stages against big teams and win games the way we’ve done it tonight. So enjoy it, then it’s back to work tomorrow because we have a big one on Sunday.”

Chelsea boss Pochettino, for whom Arteta admitted to have “all the sympathy in the world,” gave a downcast assessment of his team’s prospects of qualifying for Europe after a humbling loss.

“Now it is difficult to see the future because after this game we feel disappointed,” he said. “It is difficult to talk about objectives.

“If we compete like Saturday (in the FA Cup semi-final defeat to City), OK. But if we compete like today, I think we deserve to go into Europe? I think in this way, no.”

Enzo Maresca praised his Leicester players for the 5-0 thrashing of Southampton that put the Foxes a win away from clinching automatic promotion.

Ghana winger Abdul Fatawu scored three of them, with Wilfred Ndidi and Jamie Vardy also on target.

Leicester need only to win at Preston on Monday, or at home to Blackburn on the final day, to make sure they will finish ahead of at least one of Leeds or Ipswich. Indeed, if Leeds lose at QPR on Friday Leicester will be up before they take to the field again.

Maresca, in his first season as City manager, said: “I don’t think that was the best performance of the season but the performance was fantastic, very good on and off the ball.

“We could have been better on the ball but we are all very happy because the opposition are a fantastic team.

“The good thing about tonight is that now we know that with one win we get promoted.

“It was a good feeling at the end, the fans have been fantastic.”

Fatawu, on loan from Sporting Lisbon, opened the scoring in the 25th minute when Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall played him through. The 20-year-old might have been offside but the flag stayed down. Southampton manager Russell Martin was also aggrieved that a challenge on Saints striker Che Adams by City defender Wout Faes was not given as a foul by referee Robert Madley.

The second half belonged to Leicester though, with Ndidi charging in to head home a cross from Stephy Mavididi to double the lead.

Fatawu struck again in the 75th minute when he accepted a pass from substitute Hamza Choudhury before smashing past goalkeeper Alex McCarthy.

Fatawu set up Vardy for a well-taken fourth and completed the rout with an emphatic finish after the former England striker returned the favour.

Maresca, however, joked: “I just said ‘next game you will be on the bench’ because with Abdul and young players especially, after three goals he is already thinking he is a top player.”

Saints – famously beaten 9-0 by Leicester in the Premier League in 2019 – must now pick themselves up for the play-offs barring an extraordinary combination of results and scorelines.

Martin made it clear he would not be doing that for them though, so disappointed was he with their capitulation.

“The players need to show a bit of love for each other and pick each other up, I’m fed up of doing that,” he said.

“They need to feel some pain – the same pain that I’m feeling right now.

“Rolling over like that, it’s actually pathetic, losing 5-0. They have to rally round as a group and show some care for each other.

“I did not like what I saw from my team one bit at 2-0 down. Self-preservation, our body language and people throwing their hands up in the air.

“It surprised me actually. What can you do? I told them I didn’t like it.

“I told them Che Adams is out of contract this summer and the one person who has the excuse if he didn’t really want to be all in and not work hard for his team, but he did that more than anyone. So it was inexcusable for anyone else not to do that.

“The fans were amazing, they were still clapping at the end and deserved better than that.”

Cambridge boss Garry Monk was scathing of referee Will Finnie’s decision to award Wycombe a late penalty as the two sides recorded a 1-1 League One draw on Tuesday night.

Finnie penalised substitute Lyle Taylor seven minutes from time, allowing Luke Leahy to equalise and make Cambridge’s bid to avoid relegation go down to the final day.

A victory would have kept the U’s up and they led through Gassan Ahadme, despite illness and injury leading to Monk having only one fit centre-back available to him.

“It’s not in a million years a penalty,” Monk said afterwards.

“It’s got nothing to do with the players. It was taken out of our hands by a decision from an official that I think’s extremely poor. I’m not surprised that decision was given either, from the performance of the referee today.

“It is what it is, we’ve got to deal with it and the ramifications of it. We’re not in a place that we should have been and deserved to be tonight, where we were safe.

“In the second half, what more can you ask? We had some good chances tonight, we scored our goal. The bitter bit is not coming off with three points. We deserve to be in the situation where the job is done tonight.

“I’m really proud of them. They deserved to walk off this pitch tonight in front of our fans with the job done. We can feel deflated tonight but when we wake up tomorrow, we know what the job is.

“If we continue to show the amount of effort in what we’re doing then on Saturday we’ll get what we deserve, or what we did deserve tonight.”

Wycombe boss Matt Bloomfield was delighted to see his side make it 10 points from their last four away matches.

“We’ve played Shrewsbury, Port Vale – less so Carlisle because they were already relegated – and Cambridge. Teams that wanted points, needed points.

“The one thing I wanted to come away from every game is not being able to pick which team needed the points and which team didn’t.

“I wanted us to play with that intensity, that need to keep improving, the need to keep moving forward. It’s how we feel about ourselves. The boys are disappointed, they wanted to win tonight and I think they way we played showed that.

“You can’t win every game, we have to be very respectful of the way Cambridge played and performed but I think we did enough to win the game.

“First half we were excellent, it’s as dominant as we’ve been. The only slight disappointment was that we weren’t ahead. To show the character to go and get a penalty and come back, I thought we were very good.”

Darrell Clarke has called for Cheltenham’s fans to travel in numbers as they bid to escape the drop in League One with a final-day win at Stevenage.

Tuesday’s 2-0 home victory over Peterborough kept their hopes alive, sealed by first-half goals from Joe Nuttall and Matty Taylor, leaving them two points behind Burton.

They must win at Stevenage and hope Burton fail to beat Fleetwood and or Cambridge lose to Port Vale.

“I thought the boys were magnificent tonight and we needed to be,” Clarke said.

“Now, we take it to the last game of the season. It was a really good atmosphere tonight and the fans were great so hopefully we can get as many of them as possible down to Stevenage and fill the away end because we need everybody there trying to cheer us on for a win.

“When I came in we had one point and no goals, so of course I would have snapped your hand off for this position with one game left, with 44 points.

“The lads have been magnificent over a period of time and there is a real togetherness in the group, even when we took a lot of knocks recently.

“We have bounced back and found that really good performance. We need to find that last really good performance in the last game of the season.”

With their play-off spot already secured, Posh boss Darren Ferguson rested a host of regulars, making seven changes.

And his youthful side were blown away in the first half by the Robins, who knew anything other than a win meant relegation with one game to play.

Nuttall reacted quickest to bundle the ball over the line from close range after goalkeeper Nicholas Bilokapic could only parry Liam Sercombe’s shot in the 11th minute.

The lead was doubled 10 minutes later when Taylor brought down a ball forward from Lewis Freestone and applied an expert finish.

Taylor crashed a shot against the post in the 32nd minute after Liam Kinsella’s pass and Elliott Bonds forced Bilokapic into a smart save two minutes later.

Posh threatened through Ricky-Jade Jones before half-time, but they were second best and Taylor and Bonds both forced Bilokapic into evasive action in the second half.

At the other end, Luke Southwood parried Jonson Clarke-Harris’ shot in the 58th minute and kept out a late header from the centre forward.

Ferguson admitted his team struggled from the first whistle.

“They got on top of us and we couldn’t sustain any sort of control,” he said.

“The goals were terrible goals to give away, you can’t give goals away like that.

“We spoke about the first 20 minutes before we left the hotel – we had to see that through and try and make sure we dealt with them because we knew they’d be straight down our throats and they were and we conceded two soft goals.

“There were certain things we worked on that we didn’t do well enough, but the goals were poor and you can’t give goals away like that, especially tonight because they got so much energy from it.

“The longer the game went on and they hadn’t scored, the more chances we were going to get. We knew we had pace in behind and I have to say we had five or six very good opportunities as well.

“Congratulations to Cheltenham, they go into Saturday still with a chance of staying up.”

Erik ten Hag claims Manchester United will have over-achieved if they win the FA Cup this season.

Ten Hag and his team have faced criticism after edging past Championship side Coventry on penalties in the semi-finals, having been 3-0 up with 20 minutes to go.

They will take on Manchester City in a repeat of last year’s final hoping to exact revenge and, despite their league struggles, Ten Hag was bullish about what that would mean.

United could miss out on European football altogether, but the Red Devils boss believes the club’s struggles with injury this campaign are a major mitigating factor.

“I would say it’s over-performing with all the problems we have had,” said the Dutchman of the possibility of silverware.

“Getting into the final is already a big achievement, but we are here for trophies. We have an opportunity to win a trophy and that is good. But we are not satisfied by being in the final, we want to win it and that is what we will go for and it’s our mentality.

“That is why we are successful. That’s why I am successful over 10 years as a manager, I always bring out the maximum of each squad.”

Ten Hag was in a combative mood in the press room ahead of Wednesday’s Premier League clash with Sheffield United, branding the media reaction to his side’s cup display “embarrassing” and “a disgrace”.

Many fans were also critical and Ten Hag added of the late collapse: “We were not happy with it. I can see the fans are not happy with it as well, but they get fed by opinions.

“But all over, what I heard is that the fans are very happy we are again in the FA Cup final. Even for Manchester United, it is not business as usual, they were not so often in the FA Cup final and they were never in the FA Cup final two times in a row.”

United’s injury problems continued on Sunday, with Alejandro Garnacho, Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford and Scott McTominay all picking up issues, and the latter two are doubtful for Wednesday.

Casemiro could again be required in defence, while United’s bench at the weekend featured five teenagers.

“We will put a team out that is capable of winning the match, even if we have to be really creative,” said Ten Hag.

One of the players who will be hoping for a start is 21-year-old Amad Diallo, who has featured five times as a substitute over the past couple of months.

“Amad deserves it, but don’t forget he had a long period in the season injured, so we rebuilt him and now he has had some opportunities and a real contribution,” said Ten Hag.

“He played in a position that is not his best position. He started as a striker and then he had to play in the midfield, so he did well. We have a number of players in that area, there is big competition.

“But I am very happy with his performances and his progress, I see his qualities and his assets can really contribute to our game.”

Arkadiusz Milik scored with his first touch as a substitute to send Juventus through to the Coppa Italia final.

Juve had seen their 2-0 lead over Lazio from the first leg wiped out by a double from Valentin Castellanos.

But Poland striker Milik found the net seconds after climbing off the bench as Juve were beaten 2-1 on the night but progressed 3-2 on aggregate.

Juve will face either Fiorentina or Atalanta in the final next month.

The visitors were first on the attack and Filip Kostic’s blocked shot ricocheted to the feet of Andrea Cambiaso, whose low drive flew inches wide.

But it was Lazio who took the lead on the night, and halved the deficit on aggregate, after 12 minutes.

Luis Alberto swung in a corner and Castellanos got up above Alex Sandro at the far post and buried his header past Mattia Perin.

The two goalscorers from the first leg, Dusan Vlahovic and Federico Chiesa, almost combined to equalise.

Chiesa teed up Vlahovic to prod home from close range but his effort was saved by Christos Mandas.

Juve midfielder Manuel Locatelli was dealt a personal blow when he was booked for a foul on Nicolo Casale which means he will miss the final.

Castellanos should have levelled the tie two minutes before half-time when he found himself one-on-one with Perin.

But the Juve keeper came out quickly and was able to make a fine save to preserve the lead.

However, the Argentinian made no mistake three minutes into the second half after he was played in by Luis Alberto.

Castellanos used his strength to burst between two defenders before tucking his finish past Perin.

Vlahovic was denied a goal by a stunning piece of last-ditch defending by Adam Marusic, who slid in to block as the striker looked certain to tap in Weston McKennie’s pull-back.

But Massimiliano Allegri’s substitutions had an immediate effect after Timothy Weah’s cross-shot was tapped in at the far post by Milic with seven minutes to go to send the 14-time winners through.