Manchester City 2-1 Southampton: City reach record-breaking final

Manchester City had to fight hard for their spot in this year’s FA Cup final, with a late winner from Nico González the evntual difference between City and Southampton.

The Saints took the lead with just ten minutes left on the clock, when Finn Azaz picked out the top corner. However, a quick-fire double from City was like a dagger through Southampton hearts, bringing their 20-game unbeaten run to an end.

As It Happened

Pep Guardiola fielded a heavily rotated side this afternoon, making eight changes from the side that beat Burnley 1-0 on Wednesday night. Meanwhile, Southampton made just six changes from their midweek draw with Bristol City, but just one from their team that knocked out Arsenal in the last round, that being Welington replacing Ryan Manning.

Manchester City struck the post in the early stages, but had it gone in, it wouldn’t have counted anyway, as Omar Marmoush was caught offside in the build-up. Leo Scienza had the ball in the net for Southampton in the 11th minute, but he too was ruled offside.

Daniel Peretz was called into action for the first time this afternoon, just after the half-hour mark, denying Marmoush, who had broken through the Southampton defence. Tijani Reijnders attempted a bicycle kick moments later, which certainly didn’t trouble Peretz.

A lengthy break in play followed to allow Matheus Nunes to receive medical treatment after he went down off the ball. The Portuguese international was able to continue for the remainder of the half, as the players went in goalless.

The Saints started the second half strong, with Tom Fellows bursting into the City box, but he was tackled by Nathan Aké before he could get his shot away. Ross Stewart was next in line to try and break the deadlock; however, his curling effort was comfortably saved by James Trafford before Nunes and Rayan Cherki both saw shots blocked at the other end.

Guardiola turned to his bench shortly before the 60th minute, with Jérémy Doku and Savinho replacing Phil Foden and Mateo Kovacic. Reijnders took on a strike from the edge of the box minutes later, which curled narrowly wide of the post. Marmoush fired over the bar from 10 yards moments after, having leaned back too much when taking the shot.

Southampton made changes on the hour mark, introducing Cyle Larin and Shea Charles in place of Stewart and Cameron Bragg. City came close again a few minutes after, when Cherki’s ball across was inches away from Marmoush’s boot at the back post; had he made contact, it almost certainly would have been a goal.

The Citizens continued to apply pressure, but the Southampton defence stood tall with block after block to ensure the score stayed level for the time being. City turned to two of his big hitters in the 70th minute, with Erling Haaland and Nico O’Reilly replacing Marmoush and Ryan Aït-Nouri.

Nico González tested Peretz yet again shortly after, but the Israeli goalkeeper was more than equal to the strike, before the defence in front of him dealt with the rebounding ball. His side made another change shortly after, when Welington was replaced by Kuryu Matsuki for the remaining 15 minutes of regular time.

Southampton’s resilience paid off in the 78th minute, when Azaz picked out the top corner from the edge of the box following a quick passing move, sending the Saints fans behind the goal into raptures. Their lead didn’t last long, though, with Doku’s shot deflected off of James Bree, wrong-footing Peretz and dropping into the net.

Bernardo Silva was introduced shortly after the goal, replacing Reijnders. City took the lead late in the day through González, whose piledriving strike from range found the top corner. Southampton responded with a double change that saw Sam Edozie and Cameron Archer replace Fellows and Bree, as the Saints went in search of an equaliser.

Two Southampton corners resulted in chaos in their own box, when Peretz flew off his line to try and stop a counterattack, but was instead rounded by Doku before the eventual shot, from Savinho, was cleared off the line at the start of injury time. Taylor Harwood-Bellis was shown the first yellow card of the day in the 93rd minute.

Tonda Eckert’s side’s final roll of the dice saw Matsuki deliver a free-kick into a dangerous area, but Harwood-Bellis’ flick could only find a City head, confirming the Sky Blues’ spot in the FA Cup final for a fourth consecutive season.