Manchester City cruises into FA Cup final with 3-0 victory over Sheffield United

FA Cup : Manchester City’s Treble Hopes Remain Alive After Defeating Sheffield United 3-0 In The FA Cup Semifinal, Thanks To A Hattrick From Riyad Mahrez.

It Was Always The Likely Result Although The Knockout Stages Of Any Competition Can Produce Surprises And Pep Guardiola Had Rested Five Key Players – Kevin De Bruyne, Rúben Dias, Rodri, John Stones And Ederson – Ahead Of Wednesday’s Likely Title-Deciding Premier League Clash Against Arsenal.

Still, City Is One Of The Best Teams In Europe While Sheffield United Is Fighting For Promotion In England’s Second Tier – The Championship – But It Was Not An Entirely One-Sided Game.

“Excellent Performance,” Guardiola Told ITV Afterwards, “We Cannot Forget Three Days Ago We Were In Munich.

“The Quality Of Riyad We Have Seen For Many Years In This Country, Also With Leicester. (He Is A) Huge Mentality Competitor. Huge Ambition To Score Goals. Scoring At The End Of The First Half Was So Important.”https://masterbharti.com/fa-cup/

Sheffield Kept The Scores Pegged At 0-0 For Much Of The First Half And Had Its Own Chance To Take The Lead Early On When Iliman Ndiaye’s Attempt After A Corner Was Saved By Stefan Ortega.

Just After Halftime, Mahrez Scored His Second Goal Of The Game – A Glorious Strike After He Won Possession On The Halfway Line, Wove His Way Past The Sheffield Defense And Fired The Ball Into The Net.

And Then Five Minutes Later, He Had A Hattrick – The First In An FA Cup Semifinal Since 1958 – Latching Onto Jack Grealish’s Cross And Making No Mistake With The Finish.

“It Feels Very Good (To Score A Hat-Trick),” Mahrez Told ITV Afterwards. “The Most Important Thing Is That Two Or Three Seasons In A Row We’ve Come Here In The Semi-Finals And Lost. Today, We Wanted To Make Sure We Got To The Final. I Think I Had A Good Game.

“I Don’t Know Really Which Goal Was The Best. It’s A Good Team Achievement And We Took The Game Seriously.”

City Will Face Either Manchester United Or Brighton & Hove Albion In The FA Cup Final On June 3.

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Riyad Mahrez’s Hat-Trick Sunk Sheffield United And Sent Manchester City Into The Emirates FA Cup Final At Wembley.

The Algerian Winger Proved Too Hot For The Championship High-Flyers To Handle As He Halted Their Cup Adventure And Kept Pep Guardiola’s Hopes Of A Memorable Treble Alive.

Paul Heckingbottom’s Blades Delivered A Valiant Defensive Display Throughout The Opening Period But Were Undone By Mahrez’s Ice-Cool Penalty On The Stroke Of Half-Time.

Emirates FA Cup

• Semi-Final
• Manchester City V Sheffield United
• Saturday 22 April

And Guardiola’s Premier League Heavyweights Hit The Accelerator After The Break As Mahrez’s Fine Two Finishes Fired City Back To Wembley – Against Either Manchester United Or Brighton & Hove Albion – In June And Ended The Promotion-Chasing Blades’ Brilliant Run To The Last Four In The Capital.

Erling Haaland, Who Hit A Sixth Hat-Trick Of The Season In The 6-0 Win Over Burnley In The Previous Round, Led The Line For City As Boss Guardiola Made Six Changes To The Side That Secured A Spot In The Champions League Semi-Finals Against Bayern Munich In Midweek.

And For United, Oliver Norwood Came Into The Midfield As Manchester City Loanees James Mcatee And Tommy Doyle – Who Scored A Stunning Late Winner Against Blackburn Rovers To Propel The Blades To Wembley – Missed Out Owing To Being Unable To Face Their Parent Club In The Competition.

The Atmosphere Under The Arch Was Electric And It Was The Blades Who Came Closest To Opening The Scoring After Just Two Minutes.

Norwood’s Corner Fell To Iliman Ndiaye At The Back Post But His Low Shot Was Well Saved By Stefan Ortega Moreno, Who Was Starting Over First-Choice Goalkeeper Ederson In The City Net.

Guardiola’s Side Grew Gradually Into The Game And Did Have The Ball In The Net Through Haaland – But His Long-Range Thunderbolt Was Ruled Out By Referee Stuart Attwell After A Foul On The Edge Of The Box.

Mahrez Curled Wide From 20 Yards Before Sheffield United Goalkeeper Wes Foderingham, Returning To The Side After Serving A Recent Suspension For A Red Card Against Burnley, Acrobatically Denied Julian Alvarez’s Similarly Long-Range Attempt.

City Continued To Boss Possession But Heckingbottom’s Underdogs Did Look Dangerous On The Break Through Livewire Ndiaye And Young Striker Daniel Jebbison, Who Netted Against Millwall In The Third Round To Kickstart The Blades’ Emirates FA Cup Odyssey.

But It Was The Six-Time Competition Winners Who Seized The Lead When Mahrez Slotted Home From 12 Yards Just Before The Break.

Jebbison Fouled Bernado Silva In The Area And After Attwell Pointed To The Spot, The Former Leicester Wide Man Sent Foderingham The Wrong Way With Ease.

Manchester City 3-0 Sheffield United Emirates FA Cup 22-23

 

City Came Flying Out Of The Blocks After The Interval And Came Close To Grabbing A Second When Haaland Was Unable To Steer Home At The Far Post.

But They Did Not Have To Wait Long To Double Their Advantage When Mahrez Stormed Through The United Defence To Net Again On The Hour Mark.

The City Winger Robbed Max Lowe On The Halfway Line Before Embarking On A Searing Solo Run That Ended With Another Composed Low Finish Past Foderingham.

And Mahrez Completed His Hat-Trick Just Moments Later When He Expertly Hooked Home Jack Grealish’s Cross To Wrap Up The Contest And Trigger More Raucous Scenes From The Blue End Of Wembley Behind The Goal.

Sheffield United Delivered A Late Burst Of Enterprise And Energy But Were Unable To Get On The Scoresheet As City Strolled Through And Continued Their Pursuit Of An Emirates FA Cup, Premier League And Champions League Treble.

Pep Guardiola Talks To ITV. “It Was An Excellent Performance … We Cannot Forget Three Days Ago Drawing In Munich … It Was A Demanding Game … It Took A Lot To Be Here … We Suffered In Long Balls Because They Are A Master Of That …

But We Played A Really Really Good Game … With The Quality We Had, We Did It … Riyad Mahrez Has A Special Quality, A Huge Mentality, A Competitor …

Scoring A Penalty At The End Of The First Half Was So Important … For Many Years We Are Fighting For Titles And Still We Are There … In One Year You Can Win, Two Years, But Six Years, Every Year, Of Being There To Win The Title, The Mentality Of The Club, Not Just The Players, Helps Us To Be Here … It Is An Honour To Be In The FA Cup Final.”

Riyad Mahrez speaks to ITV. “It is very good … but the most important thing is, for two or three years in a row we have come here and lost and didn’t play good … but today we really wanted to make sure we put in a good performance and get to the final …

..I think we had a good game and we are happy … the second goal was good because I was coming from far away … but I think it was a collective performance that was really good … we took the game really seriously … that’s why we are good, yeah? …

it means a lot [to be in the FA Cup final] because we want to go as far as we can in every competition … now we have to concentrate on the league and the game against Arsenal.”

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Danny Welbeck believes Brighton & Hove Albion are lucky to have ‘special man’ Roberto De Zerbi in charge but stressed he ‘can’t speak highly enough’ about the club as a whole.

Welbeck was speaking as part of an interview for Sunday’s Emirates FA Cup semi-final matchday programme, which can be bought on the day outside Wembley Stadium connected by EE or online via here.

The 32-year-old will be coming up against his former club Manchester United, with Brighton looking to win a first FA Cup, having previously finished as runners-up against the same opposition in 1983.

What do you think it is that’s resulted in the club doing so well?

“It’s hard to pinpoint one thing but I think the character of the whole squad, that’s massive.

“It’s never easy, at the start of a season you’ve got one manager and then there’s a change. It’s never easy for that, but the new manager has come in, we’ve really taken on board his way, his style of playing, and I think that’s credit to the lads.

“Everybody’s been involved in that and dug in, and with the way the manager wants us to play, it’s a great way for us, and there’s so much learning to be done on the football field.

“Every single day is like a lesson and you learn something new. We’re lucky to have the manager here and for him to be expressing his views on football and how passionate he is.

“I think it rubs off onto the lads and everybody’s grasped that with open arms. We’re all really enjoying our time here at the moment.”