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Coventry's Victor Torp breaks his silence over his disallowed last-gasp winner in FA Cup semi-final defeat by Man United... before Championship side were dumped out on penalties

7 months ago 64
  • Victor Torp converted in the penalty shootout after coming on in the second half 
  • A marginal offside against Haji Wright saw his 121st-minute winner disallowed 
  • Coventry’s epic comeback is what the FA Cup is all about – we don’t need to change it – Listen to the It’s All Kicking Off podcast 

By Chris Wheeler

Published: 10:33 BST, 24 April 2024 | Updated: 10:40 BST, 24 April 2024

Coventry's nearly man Victor Torp has revealed that he couldn't even watch a replay of his disallowed goal for 24 hours after the heart-breaking FA Cup semi-final defeat to Manchester United at Wembley on Sunday.

Torp came on with Coventry three goals down to Erik ten Hag's side before the Championship underdogs levelled at 3-3 and then thought they had snatched an incredible win when the Dane scored with almost the last kick of extra-time.

However, his effort was ruled out for the most marginal of offside decisions by VAR against team-mate Haji Wright, and United survived to go through to the Cup Final on penalties.


Torp believes the magical moment has been taken away from him after his 'absolutely insane minutes' on the pitch, and admitted that he couldn't even watch the incident until the next day.

'It's a bit difficult to cope with all the things that happened,' he told Tipsbladet. 'When you've tried to watch the game again or highlights, there are many things you've forgotten that happened because you forgot some of it in the heat of the game.

Coventry's nearly man Victor Torp has revealed that he wasn't been able to watch replays of his goal that was chalked off in the 121st minute for 24 hours

The Sky Blues thought Torp had sealed a dramatic last gasp winner but VAR had other plans and the Championship side ultimately lost on penalties

'In the evening, I didn't see my goal because it was just millimetres that determined it was offside. I had to digest that before I could see it, so I only saw it the day after. I just needed to get it out of my system.

'It's a bit surreal to think about how close we were to creating something completely magical. I don't think it has fully dawned on me how close we were to making something huge. Even though I feel like we did something massive, there was just that happy ending missing from the story, unfortunately.

'I didn't have much time to warm up. I was on my way down to get the blood flowing in my legs, and then I'm told I have to go in. I didn't have time to think, other than hopefully I could contribute some positive energy and optimism – we were just behind 3-0.

'I just had to go in and give it a chance and play my game, and then we'd see what happened. It turned out to be a bit more than one dared to hope for. It was some absolutely insane minutes to play. I'm trying to come in and contribute with that, and we turn 3-0 into 3-3.'

Torp, who converted in the penalty shootout, relived the moment he thought he had gone down in FA Cup folklore. 

'Haji is played through and puts a ball across,' he recalled. 'Instinctively, I get a foot on it and direct it into the far corner. I have no idea at the moment that there could be an offside. Because I wasn't offside – I came from behind.

'I ran out to the corner flag, and all the emotions you've had in that game, you just let them go. I slide on my knees and lie on my back with arms and legs to the side. My calf cramps, and it was all those emotions in the body letting go. The tremble and excitement. It was just a pure release.

Fans at Wembley went from the highs of an unlikely victory to the heartbreak of defeat on penalties

His effort was ruled out for the most marginal of offside decisions by VAR against team-mate Haji Wright

'Then it's only half to a whole minute later that I realise there could be an offside. I can see that there are many United players around the referee, and then I see on the screen that they're checking it. It wasn't fun to walk around there.

'It was a bit surreal, going from being up there to feeling like it was taken away from me. You can't feel that when they've judged there's an offside. That's just how it is. But at that moment, I felt like it was taken away from me.'

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