Alan Shearer says Coventry City made Manchester United look ‘shambolic’ in an ultimately ‘painful’ FA Cup semi-final exit at Wembley Stadium. The Premier League legend turned pundit joined Gary Lineker and Micah Richards to evaluate the Sky Blues' 'monumental effort’ against Erik ten Hag’s side which, they say, almost produced the ‘greatest ever comeback in FA Cup history.’

Hosting his The Rest is Football podcast, Lineker said: “Boy, you had to feel for the Coventry players; what a monumental effort they made.”

Shearer responded: “Wow, second half, the way they rallied, got the second goal and you could hear a bit of belief from the crowd and the players fed off that. And then they were... I mean, it was just full steam ahead and they got the penalty and it was like, ‘oh my god’ and they got the third and you’re thinking, ‘if they pull this off this will be the greatest ever comeback in FA Cup history.’ And then, ugh, the off-side that they had to endure was so painful.”

Lineker added: “It was so close, so tight and most people were going, ‘bloody VAR has ruined a great day again.’ You could probably say he was a whisker off-side but...”

Shearer replied: “Yeah, you felt sorry for them. We said on Saturday, what’s going to happen tomorrow because we literally hadn’t got a clue. We just didn’t know which Man United were going to turn up because they have been so inconsistent and they were good in the first half. But they were shambolic in the second half. They were made to look shambolic by Coventry. Jesus, like.

“I just... You can’t help but feel for Coventry in the way they went out. I mean, pens is cruel anyway but to being on the brink of going out to then come back to the game and then having to go out that way is really, really painful.”

Lineker insisted that the Sky Blues will have raised their profile in the game, saying: “There still will be by their own fans and everyone in football, a feeling that it was a heroic performance to come back. I switched over actually at 3-0 to watch Liverpool on the other side and then you put in the group chat, ‘blimey, it’s 3-2’ and so I switched straight back. Oh crikey. It was some game Micah, wasn’t it?

Richards said: “It was and I think Alan summed it up perfectly really. In football magical things happen all the time. How is a Championship side coming back from 3-0 down and then getting the winner from (Victor) Torp but then it being ruled off? Even if you wrote this as a script it wouldn’t work, but in football it does work. And that’s why, and we always say it, but the FA Cup is so special because you just don’t know what it is going to throw out there.”

Richards, who was with Callum O’Hare at Villa Park, gave special mention to his former club mate after he missed his spot kick in the penalty shootout.

“I thought Coventry were brilliant and I was really sad for Callum O’Hare because I was with him at Aston Villa and he’s done really well at Coventry,” he said. “He and Kasey Palmer, sometimes play, sometimes don’t, and then for him to take the penalty... You know when the screen went to him, you’re watching on TV and he looked very nervous. But he’s not normally nervous. Normally he’s very confident. And you just think with penalties, anything can happen.

“But huge credit to Mark Robins, the manager, for sticking at it and turning it around. He deserves a huge amount of credit but that’s twice now, having lost in the play-offs on penalties last season. So it’s a massive blow but huge respect to them.”

Do you agree with the trio's sentiments? Tell us what you think in the comments section HERE.