FA Cup
Mahrez historical hat-trick seals FA Cup final spot for Manchester City
Riyad Mahrez scored the first FA Cup semi-final hat-trick since 1958 as Manchester City eased into the final with a 3-0 defeat of Sheffield United.
The Algeria international put Pep Guardiola’s treble-chasing side ahead with a penalty late in the first half before striking twice more after the hour.
Championship high-flyers United failed to trouble the imperious City, who made light of their draining schedule in the week they also reached the Champions League semi-finals with a commanding performance.
It was their 11th win in 12 games and they now go into Wednesday’s crucial top-of-table Premier League clash with leaders Arsenal with considerable confidence and momentum.
The loss made for an anti-climatic end to the Blades’ superb run in the competition but their main goal of promotion back to the top-flight should soon follow.
Guardiola made six changes but retained the prolific Erling Haaland, who has scored 48 goals this season, in attack.
Surprisingly, however, it was not the Norwegian who dominated the game but one of the players brought into the side – Mahrez.
United were without their two City loanees in Tommy Doyle and James McAtee and the pair were missed as they struggled to gain a foothold in the game.
Yet the outcome could have been different had the Blades taken their one meaningful chance of the game in the second minute.
Iliman Ndiaye should have scored when the ball fell to him following a corner but he shot straight at Stefan Ortega.
The Blades were to rue that miss as they saw very little of the ball thereafter.
To their credit they defended stoutly and initially limited City to few clear-cut chances but it seemed only a matter of time before Guardiola’s men would break through.
Haaland gave United a warning when he rifled in a shot from 35 yards but the whistle had already been blown for a foul.
Mahrez curled a shot wide and Julian Alvarez forced a good save from Wes Foderingham before John Fleck diverted a Bernardo Silva cross dangerously close to his own goal.
United threatened again when Jack Robinson took aim from distance but Ortega was not troubled.
City went ahead just before the interval after Daniel Jebbison brought down Silva in the area.
Mahrez, assuming penalty-taking duties after Haaland fired over against Bayern Munich in midweek, confidently sent Foderingham the wrong way.
The second half continued in much the same fashion, with United struggling to gain any meaningful possession.
City gradually turned the screw and they doubled the lead just after the hour as Mahrez seized the ball in midfield and was allowed to run through unchallenged.
With no sign of a tackle as he reached the box, he coolly slotted past Foderingham.
He completed his treble five minutes later. Again the United defence were helpless, this time allowing Jack Grealish to clip in a ball from the left.
Mahrez met it with a sweet strike from in front of goal and, despite getting a hand to it, Foderingham was unable to keep it out.
Guardiola then began to turn his attention to Arsenal and made a number of changes.
City confidently played out time and will now return to the national stadium in June to face rivals Manchester United or Brighton.
Manchester City F.C. completed a domestic cup double on Saturday after a late strike from Antoine Semenyo secured a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Chelsea F.C. in the FA Cup Final.
The decisive moment arrived in the 72nd minute when the Ghana international produced a clever finish from close range, turning sharply before back-heeling the ball beyond Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sánchez after an inviting cross from Erling Haaland.
Semenyo’s goal transformed what had been a tense and cautious contest into an entertaining finale as both sides pushed aggressively in search of goals during the closing stages.
City nearly doubled their advantage when Rayan Cherki forced an excellent save from Sánchez, while Matheus Nunes struck the post as Pep Guardiola’s side intensified the pressure.
Chelsea also searched desperately for an equaliser but were unable to break through City’s disciplined defence.
The triumph handed Manchester City their eighth FA Cup title and completed an impressive domestic cup double following their League Cup success earlier in March.
For Semenyo, the winning goal marked one of the biggest moments of his career, with the forward delivering when it mattered most on English football’s grandest domestic stage.
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Erling Haaland scored a hat-trick as Manchester City crushed Liverpool 4-0 at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday to cruise into the FA Cup semi-finals.
Champions Liverpool played well in the opening half-hour with Mohamed Salah wasting an early chance, but once Haaland had scored from the spot in the 37th minute after a foul on Nico O’Reilly, their resistance crumbled.
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk conceded the penalty with a rash challenge, and there was little the Dutch defender could do as City played scintillating attacking football for the remainder of the game.
His blond hair swinging behind him in a ponytail, Haaland netted his second two minutes into first-half stoppage time with a well-placed header from an excellent Antoine Semenyo cross.
Semenyo got on the scoresheet himself five minutes after the break, latching on to a ball in behind from Rayan Cherki and chipping it beautifully past Giorgi Mamardashvili, and Haaland completed his treble with a shot off the underside of the crossbar in the 57th minute.
Liverpool’s woes continued when Mohamed Salah, who is set to leave the club at the end of the season, capped off a poor performance by having his penalty saved by James Trafford, snuffing out any faint hopes Liverpool might have had of a comeback
As the game turned into a victory parade, many Liverpool fans started heading for the exits, and City manager Pep Guardiola rang the changes, replacing Haaland with Omar Marmoush, the Norwegian striker receiving a standing ovation as he left the field.
In the other quarter-finals, Chelsea take on Port Vale and Southampton host Arsenal later on Saturday, with Leeds United travelling to West Ham United on Sunday.
The semi-finals will take place at Wembley, and Haaland is relishing a return to the stadium.
“First half, we struggled a bit, but then we after around 30 minutes we kept going and in the end it’s an amazing game. Another Wembley trip for us is amazing and important,” he told broadcaster TNT.
“I think (my form this season) has been a bit too much up and down, which is not good enough. I cannot keep on thinking about what I could have done differently or what didn’t happen, or what happened. I have to think about the next game.”
-Reuters
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Arsenal will be without injured England attacker Noni Madueke when they face Southampton in Saturday’s FA Cup quarter-final, but Martin Odegaard and Jurrien Timber may return from injury, manager Mikel Arteta said.
Madueke was among the 11 Arsenal players who withdrew from international duty last month over injuries and fitness management, as the club eye their first Premier League title since 2004.
“When you have to communicate the state of every player, we are always honest and a medical decision had to be made. That was clear what the conclusion was,” Arteta told reporters on Friday.
“It makes us so proud that we had that many players in the national team. Players are desperate to play for their nation. I know how important it is to them. We are fully supportive of that and when we can do it, we do it.”
Madueke picked up a knee injury during England’s friendly with Uruguay, missing the game against Japan. But Arteta said his condition was not as bad as a knee injury that kept him out for six weeks.
Martin Zubimendi, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, Timber, Leandro Trossard, Eberechi Eze, Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice were unavailable for their countries.
Arteta did not disclose how many of them will be available for Saturday’s game, as Arsenal look to shake off last month’s League Cup final loss to Manchester City with a return to Wembley in the FA Cup semi-finals.
“We’re in a position right now where we need to make the strongest line-up we possibly can to win every competition,” he said. ” We are two or three games away from the FA Cup and we know how important that competition is for us.”
-Reuters
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