Chris Waddle played in a cross from the right wing and Clive Allen beat defender Trevor Peake to the ball to head it past Steve Ogrizovic in the Coventry goal.

The scores were level seven minutes later: a deep cross from Greg Downs was headed on by Keith Houchen to Dave Bennett who rounded Ray Clemence and struck the ball past Steve Hodge into the corner of the Tottenham goal.

[9] In a match described by Coventry City historian Jim Brown as an "epic encounter", Tottenham led 2–1 at half-time but Dave Bennett turned the game around after the interval with two goals in four minutes.

[10][11] Tottenham thought they had salvaged a point with a Nico Claesen equaliser two minutes before the end but Cyrille Regis scored in injury time to secure a 4–3 win for Coventry.

[14] Coventry began their FA Cup campaign in the third round with a match against Third Division side Bolton Wanderers at Highfield Road in early January.

Recently appointed United manager Alex Ferguson cited Coventry's better play for his team's defeat, saying "their players were prepared to risk life and limb – ours weren't".

[18] The home side played better in the first half but Coventry withstood the pressure and once again took the game 1–0, Micky Gynn scoring on the rebound after David Phillips had failed to convert a Nick Pickering cross in the 72nd minute.

Ken DeMange made it 3–2 late in the game, and Scunthorpe had the chance to force a replay in the final minute through a Johnson header, but it was saved by Tottenham goalkeeper Ray Clemence.

[24][25] In a scrappy game, featuring numerous free kicks and offside decisions, Wimbledon held on until 80 minutes after which late goals by Glenn Hoddle and Waddle sealed a 2–0 win for Tottenham.

But the Londoners reasserted control 10 minutes before half-time as Paul Allen retrieved a cleared corner, beat two defenders and fired a left-footed shot past Plumley.

[30] Speaking a week before the game, Irish defender Jimmy Holmes, who had previously played for both clubs, predicted that with the talent of Hoddle, Ardiles, Waddle, Hodge and Allen, Tottenham would be hard to beat.

Hughton had missed all but ten of the team's games since November due to an injury but was fit for the final, and Pleat's decision was influenced in part by Stevens's potential versatility as a substitute.

[40] After the national anthem was played, the Duchess of Kent was introduced to both sides by their respective captains, while accompanied by Bert Millichip, chairman of the Football Association.

Waddle played in a cross from the right wing and Clive Allen beat defender Trevor Peake to the ball to head it past Coventry's Ogrizovic for his 49th goal of the season.

[49] Three minutes later, a backpass from Peake was chased down by Clive Allen, forcing Orgizovic to run from his area and make a hurried clearance which was intercepted by Hoddle.

The Tottenham midfielder's shot was blocked by Peake whose pass to Ogrizovic was misplaced, allowing Clive Allen another chance which this time he struck into the side-netting.

Hoddle's free kick into the penalty area flew over three defenders and fell to Mabbutt whose left-footed strike bounced into the Coventry goal to make it 2–1 to Tottenham after 41 minutes.

[61] From the resulting throw-in, Tottenham made a quick break from deep in their own half, and a high ball from Hoddle found Clive Allen with space on the right-hand side of the pitch.

[62] On 54 minutes, a poor defensive clearance from Peake was collected by Hughton who played the ball to Hoddle: his mazy run towards the Coventry area ended with a cross which was narrowly missed by Clive Allen but caught by Ogrizovic.

[63] Almost immediately, a long ball upfield from Kilcline found Gynn amongst four Tottenham defenders: he strode towards the penalty area but his attempted pass was cut out by Gough.

Bennett controlled the ball before producing a right-footed cross which Houchen struck past Clemence with a diving header into the bottom-left corner of the goal to make it 2–2.

[66] Six minutes later, Waddle cut in from the right wing and passed to Hoddle who held the ball up before nutmegging McGrath to find Paul Allen in the penalty area: his shot was caught by Ogrizovic.

[72] With less than two minutes of regulation time remaining, Hughton crossed from the right into the Coventry box, where Clive Allen controlled it before shooting on the turn from close range: Ogrizovic saved it with his foot.

[73] In the 89th minute, Coventry made the first substitution of the match, with Graham Rodger coming on to replace Kilcline who had sustained an injury in an earlier mis-timed tackle on Mabbutt.

[76] Five minutes into extra time, Hodge received the ball in his own half and ran towards the Coventry goal, beating three defenders before his shot was blocked by Downs on the edge of the penalty area.

McGrath then ran into the Tottenham penalty area and crossed the ball which Mabbutt deflected upwards off his left knee and over Clemence to score an own goal, making it 3–2 to Coventry.

[82] Neither side dominated the early stages, but in the 109th minute, Gynn made an incisive run towards the edge of the Tottenham area, laying the ball off to Pickering whose placed shot went wide and high of the goal.

[93] Mabbutt became the third person to score both for and against his own club in an FA Cup final, the others being Bert Turner of Charlton Athletic in 1946 and Tommy Hutchison of Manchester City in 1981.

Around 250,000 people celebrated along the route from Hinckley Road to Speakers' Corner, while the bells of the old Coventry Cathedral were rung for the first time in over a century following a recent renovation – earlier than the planned first ringing date of 25 May.

[104] A similar assessment in 2020 by the staff of football magazine FourFourTwo placed the match in its top ten, as did a 2001 "tour around some of the greatest FA Cup finals" by BBC Sport.