Manchester City clinched the FA Cup for the eighth time with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Chelsea at Wembley, courtesy of a stunning backheel goal from Antoine Semenyo. The winter signing’s ingenious flick decided a final of few clear chances, bringing more silverware to Pep Guardiola’s side.
Chelsea played a full part in the contest and felt they should have been awarded at least one penalty when Abdukodir Khusanov appeared to foul a Chelsea player in the 77th minute. Speaking after the match, Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca expressed his frustration: “I’ve watched it back and for me it’s a penalty. We don’t seem to be getting the luck at the moment.”
Guardiola revealed he was surprised by Chelsea’s tactical approach, stating: “I didn’t expect them to play five at the back; I only knew after one minute. That surprised us but we didn’t have the right players in the right positions. We played decent, but it surprised us a lot.” Despite the win, Guardiola downplayed the celebrations, noting the quick turnaround for City’s next Premier League match at Bournemouth on Tuesday.
Semenyo, named man of the match, described his winning goal as surreal. “The ball was behind me and as long as I got contact on it towards the goal, I was hoping it would go in. Everything happened so fast,” he said. The forward also credited Guardiola for his guidance: “The first thing Pep said to me was, ‘Don’t change your game.’ He knows we control a lot but he still wants me to create chaos. That gave me peace.”
The victory marks City’s third FA Cup triumph in five finals over the past decade. Guardiola acknowledged the strength of the opposition, stating: “We knew this would be tough. Chelsea had seven days to prepare, while our travel yesterday was a mess, taking six hours to arrive. But we found a goal, and football is sometimes like this.”
