Manchester City's 27-match unbeaten run in all competitions came to an end with a defeat to Real Madrid in the last eight of the Champions League knockout rounds, and Pep Guardiola's team's success in defending the treble this season was shattered. Manchester City had no choice but to pull the battle back to the domestic stage, and in the FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea, the B seat scored the only goal of the game, and Manchester City successfully eliminated the Blues and advanced to the FA Cup final first.
Chelsea had no hope of winning the league early, but they had a good cup result, in addition to qualifying for the FA Cup semi-finals, the League Cup was only runners-up, and the two league meetings this season were all drawn. Haaland was absent and did not enter the squad, Alvarez took the center forward position, De Bruyne, Foden and Grealish formed the second attacking line, B and Rodri joined the midfield, Walker, Stones, Akanji and Ake built the backline, and Ortega continued to start the cup.
Chelsea also played a 4-2-3-1 line-up: Gusto, Trevoh Chalobah, Thiago Silva and Marc Cucurella led the backline, Enzo returned to form a back two with Caicedo, Conor Gallagher played in front, Palmer, Madueke and Jacquesson partnered in attack, and Petrovic held the goal.
As the referee's whistle sounded, the two teams immediately launched an offensive; in the 6th minute, Gallagher successfully broke the ball after actively grabbing, Palmer sent a through stopper, Jaxson burst into the penalty area and his powerful shot was defused by Ortega; in the 13th minute, De Bruyne got rid of the straight stopper, Foden passed Petrovic from a small angle and shot, Cucurella completed the goal-line save in time; in the 26th minute, Grealish held the ball on the left side and faced the Gusto defense calmly crossed, and the B seat at the back post was outflanked, and Petrovic made a wonderful save in front of the goal.
In the 28th minute, Enzo made a precise long pass from the backfield, and Jaxson formed a single knife in the front field against offside, but unfortunately he was too hesitant and was cleared by Ake who returned to the defense after passing Ortega. In the 36th minute, Gusto made a direct pass from the right, Chalobah Jr. stepped forward and knocked down the triangle, Palmer stabbed the outside of his instep after blocking Rodri's defense, and Ortega fell to the ground to save to resolve the danger. Although City had a slight advantage in the first half, none of the five shots on goal from the blue moon hit the woodwork, and it was clear that a week of double games brought a lot of fatigue.
In the 48th minute of the second half, Gallagher broke the ball and went straight, Jacquesson carried Walker's defensive push and was blocked by Ortega sideways, and then Palmer's cross at the second point, Jacquesson's header in front of the goal wasted a good chance to score; in the 52nd minute, Foden received a left-footed volley in the penalty area, and Petrovic quickly blocked the ball in front of the goal line; 2 minutes later, Palmer's direct free kick grazed the post and was slightly off. In the 63rd minute, Manchester City suffered a blow, Grealish collided with Caicedo and could not continue to hold on, Guardiola was forced to passively adjust to replace Doku;
However, Doku still played a lot of effect after coming on as a substitute, in the 84th minute, Doku held the ball on the left side to organize the attack, De Bruyne received the inverted triangle cross, the Blues backline worked together to block the first drop point, but the two-point B seat leaked all the way, and the B seat easily pushed to break the deadlock, 1:0!
It was this goal that saw City beat Chelsea 1-0 to reach the FA Cup final, where they will face the winner of Manchester United and Coventry City, and after exiting the Champions League, City will be aiming for a domestic double. As for Chelsea, it has been decided that the season will be empty after the exit, and there is a question mark over whether Pochettino will be able to stay at the end of the season.