Coventry’s Victor Torp breaks his silence on his latest winner denied in FA Cup semi-final defeat to Man United… before the Championship side were knocked out on penalties
- 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 the essence of the FA Cup – we don’t need to change it – Listen to the It’s All Kicking Off podcast
Almost Coventry man Victor Torp revealed he couldn’t even watch a replay of his disallowed goal for 24 hours following the heartbreaking FA Cup semi-final defeat to Manchester United at Wembley on Sunday.
Torp went into the game with Coventry three goals ahead of Erik ten Hag’s side before the Championship outsiders leveled at 3-3, then thought they had secured an incredible victory when the Dane scored with almost the last kick of overtime.
However, his effort was ruled out for VAR’s most marginal offside decision against teammate Haji Wright, and United survived to progress to the Cup final on penalties.
Torp believes the magical moment was taken away from him after his “absolutely crazy minutes” on the pitch, and admitted he couldn’t even watch the incident until the next day.
“It’s a bit difficult to cope with everything that’s happened,” he told Tipsbladet. “When you tried to rewatch the match or the highlights, you forgot a lot of things that happened because you forgot some of it in the heat of the moment.
Almost Coventry man Victor Torp has revealed he was unable to watch replays of his 121st-minute goal for 24 hours.
The Sky Blues thought Torp had sealed a dramatic last gasp, 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 only millimeters that determined offside. I had to digest that before I could see it, so I didn’t see it until the next day. I just needed to get it out of my system.
“It’s a little surreal to think how close we were to creating something completely magical. I don’t think I realized how close we were to making something huge. Although I I feel like we did something huge, unfortunately the happy ending in the story was missing.
“I didn’t have much time to warm up. I was going down to get the blood circulating in my legs and then I was told I had to go. I didn’t have time to think, except that I hoped I could bring some positive energy and optimism – we were just behind 3-0.
“I just had to go out there and give it a chance and play my game, and then we’ll see what happens. It turned out to be a little more than anyone dared hope for. It was an absolutely crazy few minutes to play. I try to come in and contribute with that, and we turn the 3-0 into 3-3.
Torp, who transformed in the penalty shootout, relived the moment he thought he had faded into FA Cup folklore.
“Haji is played and passes the ball,” he remembers. “Instinctively, I put one foot on it and point it towards 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 towards the corner flag, and all the emotions you felt in that game, you just let them go. I slide onto my knees and lay on my back with my arms and legs on the side. My calf was cramping, and all those emotions in my body were letting go. The tremor and excitement. It was just pure release.
Wembley fans went from the high of an improbable victory to the heartbreak of a penalty shootout defeat.
His effort was ruled out for the most marginal of offside decisions by VAR against teammate Haji Wright.
“Then it’s only half a minute or a minute later that I realize there might be an offside. I see there are a lot of United players around the referee, then I see on the screen they’re checking it. It wasn’t fun walking around there.
“It was a little surreal, going from being up there to feeling like it had been taken away from me. You can’t feel that when they ruled it was offside. It’s like that. But at that moment, I felt like it had been taken away from me.
