Manchester City bounced back from the disappointment of the Champions League quarter-final exit to Real Madrid as Bernardo Silva’s late goal sunk Chelsea at Wembley to seal a place in the FA Cup final.
It was a redemption for Silva after his poor spot-kick played a key role in City’s loss on penalties to Real.
The Portuguese midfielder turned in the winner at the far post from Kevin de Bruyne’s cross six minutes from time.
Chelsea will regret missing a host of chances, nearly all falling to striker Nicolas Jackson, as they suffered another agonising Wembley experience after the extra-time defeat on penalties against Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final.
And Chelsea also feel they were victims of an injustice as they were infuriated that they were not awarded a second-half penalty when Cole Palmer’s free-kick struck Jack Grealish’s hand in the wall, only for the video assistant referee to rule no offence had taken place.
City remained on course for another double of Premier League and FA Cup and will now face either arch-rivals Manchester United or Championship side Coventry City in the final.
City manager Pep Guardiola asked his side, who suffered such bitter disappointed as their hold on the Champions League trophy was wrestled away by Spanish giants Real, to go to the well once more against a highly-motivated Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley.
And, at times, it looked like the quest for victory might be beyond them as they looked jaded and leggy, only for their pedigree and muscle memory keeping them in contention until they could shake off the lethargy.
City did not even have a shot on target in the first half but slowly came into the game before, as the great sides do, they found a way to win.
The holders are always capable of moments of quality and it was no surprise that it was De Bruyne who unlocked Chelsea when they switched off fatally late on, the Belgian picking out Silva at the far post for the winner.
And it was a sweet moment for Silva, who chose to loft a dreadful penalty straight at Real keeper Andriy Lunin in a decisive moment in the shootout against Real as City’s attempt to win a second Champions League failed.
Here, as he has done so often, the Portuguese arrived with perfect timing to send City into another FA Cup Final.
City will be exhausted after another mammoth effort but will be refreshed for battles ahead by a hugely significant victory.
Chelsea have suffered their 11th elimination from the FA Cup at the semi-final stage, the third most in the competition’s history after Everton (13) and Tottenham (12)
Chelsea and manager Mauricio Pochettino left Wembley with that “what might have been” feeling once again after seeing a golden chance to reach the FA Cup final pass them by.
Pochettino set his team up ideally to keep City at bay but once again, as they did in that Carabao Cup final loss to Liverpool, Chelsea were their own worst enemies as they squandered opportunities to banish memories of that reverse.
And striker Jackson was the biggest culprit, deciding to go around City keeper Stefan Ortega when put clean through in the first half, failing to complete the job.
Jackson also shot low and tamely for Ortega to save in the second half, then saw a header clawed out by the keeper seconds later when the striker should have done better.
Chelsea will argue long and hard that they should have been awarded the penalty for what they felt was handball by Grealish from Palmer’s free-kick but it was all to no avail.
Palmer, Chelsea’s big hope, had a quiet game against his former club and Chelsea must focus on making a late run for a place in Europe as their trophy hopes were ended.
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