There were ecstatic scenes in the Coventry end at Wembley when Victor Torp poked home at the end of extra time to make it 4-3, after they had trailed 3-0 against Manchester United.
But the celebrations were cut short by an offside decision before United scraped through on penalties after an astonishing comeback by the Championship club.
At the end, there were tears from players in sky blue on the pitch and supporters in sky blue in the stands.
“We’ve just said to them [the players] they’ve put themselves right up there in the history of the football club,” said Coventry boss Mark Robins.
“People will talk about this game for a long time.”
Coventry City might be out of the FA Cup but they played their part in a semi-final classic that will be remembered for years.
The Sky Blues looked down and out when Bruno Fernandes put Manchester United 3-0 ahead in the 59th minute.
First-half goals by Scott McTominay and Harry Maguire had put the Red Devils in control at half-time before Fernandes looked to have put the tie out of reach.
Yet the Sky Blues came roaring back.
Ellis Simms’ sixth goal in this season’s FA Cup looked nothing more than a consolation in the 71st minute before Callum O’Hare struck with a deflected finish eight minutes later.
“That got everybody’s tails up,” said Robins, an FA Cup winner with Manchester United in 1990, after the match.
Then Haji Wright sparked scenes of utter jubilation among 36,000 Sky Blues fans, keeping his composure to score from the penalty spot five minutes into added time.
Yet there was even more drama to follow when Coventry thought they had snatched right at the end of extra-time through Torp only for Wright to be judged offside by the video assistant referee (VAR)..
