Manchester City’s Portuguese midfielder Bernardo Silva (L) and striker Erling Haaland celebrate their FA Cup semi-final win over Southampton.
Photo: AFP
Manchester City beat Championship side Southampton 2-1 with a late goal from Nico Gonzalez to book a place in an unprecedented fourth consecutive FA Cup final and keep alive their hopes of a domestic treble.
Southampton, who upset Arsenal in the quarter-finals, looked poised to continue their dream run when Finn Azaz struck a gorgeous shot from distance in the 79th minute that James Trafford had little chance of stopping.
But in what was a thrilling second half of the semi-final, Jeremy Doku wiped out Southampton’s lead four minutes later when he worked the ball onto his right foot before unleashing a shot from the edge of the penalty area that deflected off James Bree and into the net.
Gonzalez struck a rocket from 20 yards out in the 87th minute and City, who won the League Cup earlier this season and are neck and neck with Arsenal at the top of the Premier League table, held on for victory in a breathless final few minutes.
City will meet the winner of Sunday’s semi-final between Chelsea and Leeds United in the May 16 final at Wembley.
Arsenal back on top
Arsenal arrested their slump in form with Eberechi Eze’s superb early goal securing an ugly 1-0 home win against Newcastle United to reclaim top spot in the Premier League on Saturday (US Time).
After successive league defeats to Bournemouth and Manchester City, Arsenal were knocked off the summit for the first time since October by City on Wednesday (US Time) but they responded to secure three vital points.
It was far from convincing, however, and the quality of Eze’s sublime 10th-minute strike was at odds with the rest of a laboured and edgy display by Mikel Arteta’s side.
Arsenal made heavy weather of it against an out-of-form Newcastle side and the nervousness around the stadium was apparent throughout with Yoane Wissa blazing a glorious late chance over the crossbar for the visitors.
With Manchester City in FA Cup semi-final action, Arsenal moved to 73 points from 34 games with City on 70 from 33.
Newcastle’s fourth successive league defeat left them in 14th place and with pressure mounting on Eddie Howe.
Relegation fight heats up
Tottenham Hotspur earned a vital win in their Premier League relegation fight, edging bottom side Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 as Joao Palhinha struck late to end a long winless streak.
Palhinha’s goal in the 82nd minute lifted Spurs to 34 points, but West Ham United ensured the pressure remained firmly on their London rivals by beating Everton 2-1. West Ham, in 17th place, moved to 36 points with four games remaining, leaving Tottenham still in the drop zone, one place behind.
Tottenham Hotspur’s midfielder Joao Palhinha celebrates after scoring against Wolves.
Photo: AFP
Liverpool climbed above Aston Villa into fourth in the table on 58 points with their 3-1 victory over Crystal Palace to help solidify their bid for a Champions League spot next season.
Villa lost 1-0 to Fulham in Saturday’s (US Time) early game to drop to fifth, trailing Liverpool on goal difference as the battle for European qualification intensifies with the league in its final stretch.
At Molineux, Spurs claimed a first league victory in 16 games with their win against already-relegated Wolves.
It had been a frustrating afternoon for the visitors as they created little of substance until Palhinha turned the ball in at the back post from Richarlison’s miscued shot.
West Ham took a big step towards league survival with substitute Callum Wilson’s 92nd-minute winner keeping the Hammers out of the relegation zone.
After a drab first half, the game sparked into life when Jordan Pickford’s save from Taty Castellanos led to a brief VAR check and the corner from which Tomas Soucek headed the opening goal in the 51st minute.
The Hammers clung on to their lead until Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall fired home an equaliser in the 88th minute, but Wilson popped up in added time to give the hosts a precious victory.
At Anfield, Alexander Isak scored his first goal since fracturing his leg in December in the 35th minute, before Andy Robertson doubled the Reds’ lead five minutes later.
Daniel Munoz pulled one back for Palace in the 71st minute with Liverpool’s third-choice keeper Freddie Woodman down injured, but Florian Wirtz found the net deep in injury time to wrap up the win.
– Reuters
