How Manchester City reached first FA Cup final for four years
Sign up to Miguel Delaney’s Reading the Game newsletter sent straight to your inbox for free
Sign up to Miguel’s Delaney’s free weekly newsletter
Thanks for signing up to the
Football email
Manchester City face arch-rivals Manchester United in the FA Cup final on Saturday.
Here, the PA news agency looks at how Pep Guardiola’s side made it to Wembley.
Man City 4 Chelsea 0 (third round, Jan 8)
City sailed through with surprising ease as Chelsea put up little resistance at the Etihad Stadium just three days after a hard-fought Premier League clash between the sides at Stamford Bridge.
Recommended
A superb Riyad Mahrez free-kick, a Julian Alvarez penalty and a Phil Foden effort effectively wrapped up the contest in the first half.
Mahrez completed the scoring from the spot late on.
Man City 1 Arsenal 0 (fourth round, Jan 27)
City edged a tight and entertaining game that lived up to its pre-match billing as a heavyweight contest.
A tidy finish from defender Nathan Ake, placing a shot into the bottom corner after good work from Jack Grealish, settled the tie in the 64th minute.
Bristol City 0 Man City 3 (fifth round, Feb 28)
Foden struck twice as City saw off their Championship hosts with little alarm.
The England midfielder opened the scoring after seven minutes when he turned home a low Mahrez ball at the back post and made victory certain with a deflected effort after the break.
Kevin De Bruyne added a brilliant third with a low curling shot from outside the area.
Man City 6 Burnley 0 (quarter-finals, Mar 18)
City gave their former captain Vincent Kompany a hero’s reception on his return to the Etihad – but showed his Championship-leading side little mercy on the field.
The prolific Erling Haaland, who had smashed five past RB Leipzig just days earlier, helped himself to a hat-trick as the Clarets were put to the sword.
Alvarez weighed in with a double and Cole Palmer also got on the scoresheet in the rout.
Man City 3 Sheff Utd 0 (semi-finals, Apr 22)
Another promotion-challenging Championship side failed to lay a glove on City as Guardiola’s men booked a return to the final for the first time in four years after three successive semi-final defeats.
Recommended
Mahrez took centre-stage by scoring the first FA Cup semi-final hat-trick since 1958 and the first at Wembley.
The Blades were made to rue missing a gilt-edged early chance through Iliman Ndiaye as Mahrez grabbed his first from the spot, ran through the defence for a fine solo second and swept in to complete his treble.
Source: Read Full Article