Premier League and FA Cup are on the radar for the Cityzens after March’s Carabao Cup win
Pep Guardiola praised his players after Nico Gonzalez scored a late winner to send Manchester City into a fourth consecutive FA Cup final.
City looked set for a shock defeat against Southampton after Finn Azaz put them ahead in the 79th minute with a long-range effort. However, substitute Jeremy Doku equalised three minutes later before Gonzalez struck in the 87th minute to complete the turnaround.
Guardiola was pleased with his side’s second-half performance. “The team in the second half was really exceptional. The amount of chance, chance, chance after chance we created. We didn’t concede much in the second half.”
He also acknowledged the quality of Southampton’s opener while pointing to his team’s finishing. “We are not clinical enough, and then they scored the first,” Guardiola said. “What a goal. Football is unpredictable, that’s why sometimes it’s: ‘Oh my God.’ How many times like in the second half did Southampton cross halfway?”
City will face Chelsea in the final on 16 May after the Blues beat Leeds 1-0 on Sunday, but attention now turns back to the Premier League title race.
Following Arsenal’s win over Newcastle United, City sit second, three points behind the leaders. Their next league match, away to Everton, begins a crucial run of fixtures.
Guardiola described the six remaining matches as “six cup finals”, including five Premier League fixtures and the FA Cup final.
“Six games, every game we win in the league, we’ll be there. If we lose, it’s over and of course we have the other one, the Cup final,” Guardiola said.
“We are in the Cup final again, we have time to prepare with our fans. Now it’s easy, so rest and mentally, physically, because it has been a tough week, a lot of emotions and go for these five games.”
