Football Apr 25, 2026

Man City 2-1 Southampton: Pep Guardiola's men make FA Cup final for fourth consecutive year after mighty Saints scare

👤
By Admin
Sports Journalist
Man City 2-1 Southampton: Pep Guardiola's men make FA Cup final for fourth consecutive year after mighty Saints scare

Manchester City were given an almighty FA Cup scare by Southampton but came from behind to win 2-1 and make the final for the fourth year in a row.

Championship high-flyers Saints kept City at bay and then delivered what looked like a famous FA Cup moment when Finn Azaz curled them in front with 11 minutes remaining.

However, City kept on knocking on the door against a stubborn Saints defence and Jeremy Doku's deflected effort on 82 minutes drew them level.

Extra-time looked on the cards but Nico Gonzalez produced a moment of Premier League quality to win the game with a rasping strike from 25 yards that flew into the top corner.

For a few minutes Southampton dreamt of emulating their 1976 cup heroes by booking a return to the final on the 50th anniversary of that triumph but it was City's treble quest that remained alive.

City will play either Leeds or Chelsea in the final whilst Southampton are back into the heat of a Championship promotion race where they face Ipswich in midweek.

Your Site' Zinny Boswell at Wembley Stadium:

"This game exploded into life in the final 20 minutes to produce a stunning finale.

"It was absolutely heartbreaking for Southampton, who produced a dogged defensive display. Their 20-match unbeaten run coming to and end along with their FA Cup dream.

"City would have hoped for a less taxing game with respect to managing minutes for the Premier League title run-in, but to have responded in that manner will be huge for their momentum.

"Guardiola's changes, Doku in particular, really swung the game in their favour and puts them in touching distance of a domestic treble. That would be quite something in a season when many had ruled them out."

Put to him that City are on the brink of a domestic treble, Guardiola said: "No, too much. That is far away.

"Before the [FA Cup] final and before the Aston Villa game [the last game of the Premier League season] I will tell you if there is a chance. Now it's not. Far, far away.

"It's important to have three days off for the players, and I told them, so don't think about football. Rest. Then we start a season of five games plus the final of the FA Cup."

Southampton boss Tonda Eckert looking ahead to Tuesday night against Ipswich:

"It's going to be a test of maturity for us to put this game to bed as quickly as possible, because we need another top performance on Tuesday.

"We need to make some decisions for the game on Tuesday, we dive into it a little bit more throughout the day tomorrow and I'm sure that we have a very good team on the pitch that is ready to perform.

"I think if you start to create momentum as a team and as a group. I think that you need to do everything to win games for football. I think that sometimes gives you more energy than trying to save a player and save five per cent here or there.

"It's relentless at this part of the season. The approach has always been the same. We try to put the best team out there that we think gives us the highest chances of winning a game of football and that's not going to change."

Tags:

football report

Share this article

Related Posts

EFL highlights: Ipswich, Southampton win; Coventry miss promotion chance & Leicester in trouble

EFL highlights: Ipswich, Southampton win; Coventry miss promotion chance & Leicester in trouble

Chelsea offer Shaw bumper dealChelsea have made a contract offer to Khadija "Bunny" Shaw worth at least 1million per year with the 29-y...

Hearts 3-1 Motherwell: Late Lawrence Shankland and Pierre Landry Kabore goals seal vital win in Scottish Premiership title race

Hearts 3-1 Motherwell: Late Lawrence Shankland and Pierre Landry Kabore goals seal vital win in Scottish Premiership title race

Hearts came from behind to beat Motherwell 3-1 on Saturday, maintaining their three-point lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership.After a goalless...

Norwich 0-2 Ipswich: Tractor Boys claim first win at Carrow Road in 20 years to retake second spot in Championship

Norwich 0-2 Ipswich: Tractor Boys claim first win at Carrow Road in 20 years to retake second spot in Championship

Ipswich gave their hopes of automatic promotion from the Championship a massive boost by recording a hard-fought 2-0 win over Norwich at Carrow Road.T...

Celtic 1-0 St Mirren: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scores to keep pressure on Scottish Premiership leaders Hearts

Celtic 1-0 St Mirren: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scores to keep pressure on Scottish Premiership leaders Hearts

Celtic kept the pressure on Scottish Premiership leaders Hearts with a 1-0 win over St Mirren.Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's first-half strike was enough f...

Coventry 0-0 Sheffield Wednesday: Sky Blues made to wait another week for Premier League promotion

Coventry 0-0 Sheffield Wednesday: Sky Blues made to wait another week for Premier League promotion

Championship leaders Coventry missed the chance to move one point from promotion to the Premier League as they were held to a goalless draw by already...

Marie-Louise Eta becomes first female head coach in men's top five European leagues at Bundesliga side Union Berlin

Marie-Louise Eta becomes first female head coach in men's top five European leagues at Bundesliga side Union Berlin

Marie-Louise Eta has become the first female head coach in the men's top five European leagues after being announced as Union Berlin's new boss.Eta ha...