MANCHESTER City shook off their UEFA Champions League exit in midweek to beat Chelsea 1-0 in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley tonight.
Pep Guardiola’s side were eliminated from the elite European competition by Real Madrid on penalties on Wednesday to end their dream of a historic repeat Treble.
To keep hopes of an English Premier League and FA Cup double alive, City had to advance past Chelsea this evening, and they eventually did it the hard way.
Bernardo Silva scored the only goal of the close contest late in the second half to break Chelsea’s resistance.
Chelsea had looked the more likely team to take the lead in a first half in which Mauricio Pochettino’s side created the better chances and limited City to no shot on target before half-time.
Nicolas Jackson had two clear opportunities to put Chelsea in front midway through an evenly contested second half, but the Senegal striker failed to beat City goalkeeper Stefan Ortega each time.
Chelsea then felt they deserved a penalty for a handball by Jack Grealish but referee Michael Oliver waved their protests away, even after Video Assistant Referee reviews.
City got the decisive goal in the 84th minute as Silva atoned for his penalty miss on Wednesday with a deflected finish past Djordje Petrovic in the Chelsea goal.
With the result, Manchester City are unbeaten in their last 29 matches in all competitions (minus penalty shootouts), the longest ever such run in the club’s history, according to Opta statistics.
Manchester City will face the winners of tomorrow’s semi-final between Manchester United and Coventry City in the final in May.
