Manchester City v Chelsea 1-0: FA Cup semi-final – how it happened

Holders Manchester City have a chance to defend their FA Cup title after beating Chelsea 1-0 in Saturday’s semi-final first leg. goal of the match in the 84th minute.
Manchester City are now 29 games unbeaten in all competitions, the longest run in the club’s history (23 wins, six losses).
The other FA Cup semi-final is between Coventry and. Manchester on Sunday. United Kick off is at 1430 GMT..

A late goal from Bernardo Silva revived Manchester City’s hopes of a domestic double after Pep Guardiola’s side beat Chelsea 1-0 in the FA Cup semi-final.

Real Madrid crashed out of the Champions League on penalties in the semi-final. . . , which ended their hopes of a double, Guardiola’s side struggled to find rhythm for most of the game without the injured Erling Haaland.

Chelsea were in the front row at Wembley and finally. , they were forced to pay for many lost seats. Nicolas Jackson was the main culprit as goalkeeper Stefan Ortega denied him twice in quick succession early in the second half..

Mauricio Pochettino’s side were also denied a penalty when Cole Palmer’s free kick hit Jack Grealish’s arm. Referee Michael Oliver dismissed the appeals before VAR upheld the on-field decision, much to the confusion of Pochettino and his players.

VAR officials of course decided not to penalize Grealish for handball when he tried to shoot. body shrank as Palmer’s free kick came towards him..

In his post-match press conference, Pochettino hinted that he felt his side should have had a spot kick.

He said: “Maybe you had a better view? From the touchline is was difficult to see.

“Someone on my staff said it was a penalty. I said to the referee: ‘Why don’t I watch the penalty on TV?'” n
The breakthrough came as extra time approached for Silva, who converted Wednesday’s penalty into Real Madrid shootout, turned Kevin De Bruyne’s cross at the back post at Wembley to edge City and keep their FA Cup defense on track.

They will be back at Wembley on Saturday 25 May to face either Manchester United or Coventry in the second semi-final at Wembley..

How Man City returned to the FA Cup final…

Was their going to be a Man City hangover following their midweek exit from the Champions League? Chelsea certainly asked the question with Pochettino’s side making a very bright start at Wembley.

Conor Gallagher, starting in an unfamiliar left wing role, was snapping at the heels of the City defenders and won the ball back right on the edge of the penalty area before Jackson fired a shot straight at goalkeeper Ortega.

Man City:Man City: Ortega (8), Walker (7), Stones (6), Akanji (7), Ake (7), Rodri (6), De Bruyne (8), Bernardo (7), Foden (7), Grealish (6), Alvarez (7).

Subs used: Dias (6), Doku (7), Bobb (n/a).

Chelsea: Petrovic (7), Gusto (6), Chalobah (7), Silva (7), Cucurella (7), Caicedo (6), Fernandez (6), Madueke (6), Palmer (7), Gallagher (7), Jackson (6).

Subs used: Disasi (n/a), Mudryk (/a), Sterling (n/a), Chilwell (n/a).

Player of the match: Kevin De Bruyne.

Fresh from a four-goal haul against Everton on Monday, Palmer showed his confidence is sky-high as he tried to find Ortega with an ambitious 45-yard strike. But unlike Everton, he didn’t get the right shot when Ortega made a successful save.

Man City struggled to find their rhythm. However, due to their quality, they can turn it on in the blink of an eye. De Bruyne did just that with a fine pass to free Phil Foden from behind the Chelsea defence. The England international surrounded Dorde Petrovic but his touch took him too wide and a narrow angle allowed Marc Cucurella to recapture the ball.

City could not go forward at this point as Chelsea finished the half strongly. Jackson sprang into City’s offside trap but did not look comfortable running into goal. He managed to get past Ortega, but he was forced past and refused to shoot before giving the ball straight to Nathan Ake.

Ortega then created a huge moment just before the break when he got to his left for a clever shot. save to deny the in-form Palmer as both sides went into the break level..

Will Chelsea rue capitalize on their dominance in the first half?

Man City, who brought on Ruben Dias for John Stones at half-time, also put Chelsea under immense pressure at the start of the second half. . Chances appeared for Pochettino’s side, but they were wasted.

Jackson was to blame for this incident. Ortega denied him not once, but twice in a row, with a second-chance jab that he really should have converted from close range..

• Man City: Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola made four changes from the side that lost on penalties to Real Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday. Erling Haaland was not in the squad with Julian Alvarez replacing him. Stefan Ortega came in for Ederson in goal while Nathan Ake and John Stones replaced Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol in defence.
• Chelsea: Chelsea made just one change to the side that thrashed Everton 6-0 on Monday. Enzo Fernandez returned in midfield with Mykhailo Mudryk dropping to the bench.
  
  
  

The game became more open as the second half progressed and Foden was denied by a smart save from Petrovic before VAR denied Chelsea a penalty when Palmer’s free-kick appeared to hit Grealish’s arm.

Man City finally began to dig deeper. in the second half of the game. Jeremy Doku replaced Jack Grealis and was in direct play but his low shot was blocked by Petrovic’s legs. Moments later, De Bruyne fired wide as City pressed home the winner.

The decisive moment came after six minutes. Petrovic headed De Bruyne’s cross into the path of Silva, who fired in from distance to break Chelsea hearts and send the team to the final..