The dream of the double treble disappeared with the defeat to Real Madrid in the penalty shootout at the Etihad on Wednesday night, but the dream of the double double lives on. In the era of Manchester City’s supremacy in English football, it is a measure of their dominance that the prospect of such a feat has come to seem like an anticlimax.
It should not be like that. City’s consistency is remarkable. They were far from their best at Wembley against a Chelsea side who had enough chances to beat them twice, but they found a way to win, as they do so often, and a late goal from Bernardo Silva earned them their place in the final. at the end of next month against Manchester United or Coventry City.
Football can be cruel, but it is also healing, and there was something beautiful about Silva getting the winning goal. It was his penalty, saved so comfortably by Madrid goalkeeper Andriy Lunin in the shootout, that was the symbol of that devastating defeat. He was now the hero again.
City’s penchant for history lies more in their attempt to become the first English team to win the top-flight title four times in a row but, despite the systematic efforts of the Premier League and the FA to destroy the competition , still has considerable prestige. his own. That was clear in the joy of City’s celebrations after the game.
It was difficult not to feel some sympathy for the Chelsea fans who had given such brilliant support to their team in difficult circumstances. Time and time again, they saw their forwards waste clear scoring opportunities. At the end of the second half, his frustration was about to boil over. It was hard to blame them.
Bernardo Silva sent Manchester City into the FA Cup final with a late goal that broke Chelsea’s hearts
Pep Guardiola’s team recovered from their midweek disappointment against Real Madrid
No wonder Nicolas Jackson was so desperate to take that penalty in Chelsea’s recent 6-0 thrashing of Everton. Given this evidence, there is very little chance of him scoring any other way. His performance against City was not without merit, but in front of goal he was the Wizard of Waste.
The game, overall, was not a classic. The city seemed tired. Chelsea simply weren’t good enough to win. If Cole Palmer had a better supporting cast, they might have had a chance, but there’s no one on his level.
As for the occasion, well, there were plenty of empty seats. When the FA and the Premier League, who dealt another blow to the competition by scrapping replays from the first round onwards last week, have no respect or love for the FA Cup, what do they expect? The stench of that decision still hung over this game.
Chelsea were almost in trouble in the first two minutes. Marc Cucurella beat a pass to Thiago Silva in his own area that caught him on his heels. It looked like the ball was going to run towards Julián Álvarez, but when he got close to him, Silva stretched out to make a saving tackle.
City had their own chance after a quarter of an hour when De Bruyne slipped a brilliant ball back to Phil Foden, who beat the offside trap and slotted the ball past Djordje Petrovic. The ball swerved too wide for Foden to finish and when he sent a cross towards goal, Cucurella headed it off the line.
Chelsea had a reasonable amount of possession, but City capitalized on opportunities in what seemed like a tepid first half. Jack Grealish lifted a cross to the far post which Bernardo Silva pushed past Petrovic. Two things prevented it from being a goal: another last-minute clearance by Cucurella and a flag from the linesman against Foden.
It took Chelsea half an hour to properly threaten City’s defence, but when they did, they created the best chance of the game so far. Nicolas Jackson took advantage of a good long ball from Enzo Fernández, beat City’s offside trap and advanced towards Stefan Ortega.
Nicolas Jackson was the magician of waste as he and Chelsea squandered chances to end City’s double dream.
Moisés Caicedo was lucky to escape a red card for this horrible challenge on Jack Grealish, who was sent off.
Chelsea went toe-to-toe with City and had multiple chances to go ahead
Jackson, who possesses the qualities of pace and wastefulness in equal measure, rounded the City goalkeeper but then lost his nerve. Instead of rolling the ball toward the goal, he stepped back and looked for a teammate. He lingered too long and by the time he played the ball, Nathan Ake had returned to kick it. Chelsea fans were enraged.
It didn’t take long for Chelsea to threaten City’s goal again. This time, it was all the work of Cole Palmer, who has established himself beyond a reasonable doubt as the best player on his team. Palmer worked his way past Rodri in the box with the kind of chutzpah that makes the soul leap and tried to deflect his shot into the corner only for Ortega to deflect it.
Jackson began the second half as he had played in the first: wasting opportunities. Perhaps it is unfair to criticize him too harshly because his running without the ball and his build-up play were excellent. But his finish was criminally poor.
In just 20 seconds he wasted two good chances. First, Gallagher passed to Rodri and put Jackson in goal. Jackson tried to deflect his shot around Ortega, but he was too close to him and hit too weakly.
The ball was recycled and crossed, delightfully, to the far post by Palmer where Jackson was waiting. Once he connected it, it seemed impossible for him not to score, but he headed the ball down and the rebound gave Ortega time to react and deflect it.
At the other end, Foden saw a good chance saved by Petrovic before City survived furious Chelsea penalty appeals when Palmer’s free kick went through the defensive wall and appeared to hit Grealish on the arm. The VAR verified the incident and ruled that it was not a penalty.
Chelsea wasted another clear chance when Palmer’s clever pass sent Moisés Caicedo down the right. Jackson was crying out for the ball in the middle but, perhaps understandably, Caicedo seemed hesitant to pass the ball to him. In the end, he half crossed it and half passed it straight into touch.
Just when the match had reached a stalemate and seemed destined for extra time, City forced the victory. De Bruyne escaped down the left and put a cross into the six-yard box. Petrovic deflected it with his left foot but it fell straight to Bernardo Silva, who crashed it towards the goal. Cucurella lunged at him but could only deflect the ball into the net.
Football can be cruel, but Silva made amends for his bad penalty against Real Madrid in midweek
Erling Haaland was absent due to injury, but City found a way to get through the game without him
Mykhailo Mudryk headed a free kick badly and frustrated Chelsea fans left in droves after that.
Chelsea barely had time to waste one last golden opportunity. Jackson made a lovely break to replace Ben Chilwell on the left, but Chilwell ignored Raheem Sterling as he ran down the left. When he prepared to make the pass, a City defender cut him off.
When Chelsea were awarded a free kick in a dangerous position in the final seconds of eight minutes of stoppage time, Mykhailo Mudryk beat it so poorly that it almost became a throw-in. Many of Chelsea’s fans had finally seen enough. They got up and headed en masse towards the exits.