Full time: Chelsea 0-1 Manchester City
Manchester City have won the FA Cup for the eighth time! Antoine Semenyo’s superb goal decided a hard-fought final of few clear chances. Chelsea played a full part and will feel they should have had at least one penalty for a foul by Abdukodir Khusanov. But it was Semenyo’s ingenious flick that won it.
Updated at 11.59 EDT
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Bernardo Silva and John Stones, two City legends who are leaving the club this summer, share the honour of collecting the FA Cup. It’s their 17th major trophy in nine years at City, 20 if you include the Community Shield. And for champions like Bernardo and Stones, not to mention that insatiable beast Guardiola, the experience of lifting a hunk of metal to the heavens will never, ever get old.
Updated at 12.18 EDT
Pep Guardiola leads the way as City walk up to collect their medals from Prince William and lift the trophy. He and a wild-eyed Bernardo Silva are deep in conversation, both smiling broadly. Their professional relationship has burned as brightly as almost any in the Premier League era.
Chelsea’s players are dragging themselves up to collect their runners-up medals. They’ve had a poor season, on and off the field, but their performance today was beyond reproach. And for the second time this season, Calum McFarlane proved a worthy opponent to Pep Guardiola.
Updated at 12.10 EDT
Bernardo Silva’s reaction
double quotation markI’m very happy. Everything about my journey at Man City was fantastic and it’s really nice to finish this way. Hopefully… we still have a small dream that we can fight for the Premier League.
With it being my last season, it’s special to give the fans another trophy – hopefully not the last one. Since I arrived it’s been 20, so that’s not bad. I’m just really happy to have enjoyed all of these moments with my teammates and with the fans.
It was a fantastic goal. The beginning of the second half was really tough for us; they were putting us under constant pressure. Congratulations to Chelsea, who made it very difficult for us.
[On his relationship with Pep] He changed the way I see football. Eighty per cent of my career, more or less, has been with him. All the things I ever hoped to achieve was under him. The relationship has been very strong – with the frustrations, with the achievements – and I hope that one day when I come back to this city we can have dinner and that we will stay friends.
[Will Pep stay?] That’s his decision. It’s not for me to comment on that. I want the best for him and for Manchester City. Pep being the best manager in the world, if he stays that’s obviously better. But it’s his decision!
Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva celebrates his side;s victory over Chelsea. Photograph: Mike Egerton/PAShare
Updated at 12.07 EDT
Manchester City have won both domestic cups for the second time under Pep Guardiola. In 2018-19 they managed a domestic treble; that looks unlikely this year, but it’s not beyond the realms.
Manchester City players celebrate their victory. Photograph: Ed Sykes/Allstar Picture Library Ltd/SportsphotoAs do their fans. Photograph: John Walton/PAShare
Updated at 12.10 EDT
Manchester City are now level with Chelsea, Liverpool and Spurs on eight FA Cups. Only Arsenal (14) and Manchester United (13) have won more.
ShareFull time: Chelsea 0-1 Manchester City
Manchester City have won the FA Cup for the eighth time! Antoine Semenyo’s superb goal decided a hard-fought final of few clear chances. Chelsea played a full part and will feel they should have had at least one penalty for a foul by Abdukodir Khusanov. But it was Semenyo’s ingenious flick that won it.
Updated at 11.59 EDT
90+2 min Caicedo fouls Semenyo, then sarcastically applauds the assistant referee and is booked.
Chelsea’s Moises Caicedo upends Manchester City’s Antoine Semenyo (left). Photograph: Mike Egerton/PAShare
Updated at 11.58 EDT
90+1 min An inswinging cross is headed wide from 12 yards by Delap. A tough chance – his movement was good but he couldn’t guide the header on target.
90 min Five minutes of added time.
90 min On 11 November 2018, Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City beat Man Utd 3-1 through goals from David Silva, Sergio Aguero and Ilkay Gundogan. A day earlier, 18-year-old Antoine Semenyo made his FA Cup debut for Newport County in a 2-0 win away to Met Police.
Eight years on, Semenyo is a few minutes of injury time away from scoring the winning goal in an FA Cup final.
Updated at 11.52 EDT
88 min Excellent game management from City, who are keeping the ball and frustrating Chelsea.
86 min: Chelsea substitution Alejandro Garnacho replaces the weary Joao Pedro.
85 min Cherki addresses a bouncing ball of the edge of the area with a ferocious shot that is beaten away by Sanchez. It was straight enough but that’s still a fine save.
Share84 min: Nunes hits the post
Doku plays a superb pass to release O’Reilly on the left. His low ball across the area towards Haaland is crucically cut out by Caicedo.
Seconds later, Nunes screws a low cross on the run that deflects onto the near post!
83 min “That was a wonderful goal, I actually burst out laughing,” writes Kári Tulinius. “This was like something the Harlem Globetrotters would pull, if they played football.”
Please don’t make Florentino Perez angry again.
82 min: Chelsea substitution Former Manchester City forward Liam Delap comes on for Reece James.
80 min And now it’s over to our resident Quasimodo. “My pre-season prediction of a team in blue or red winning top honours in England and Europe looks like coming true again, Rob,” writes Simon McMahon. “I amend it slightly to include green and white in Scotland. Hoping it holds for the World Cup this year too. Scotland v Spain final. Norway for Eurovision. Democrats or Republicans. Labour or Tories Reform. It’s foolproof, I tell you. Bet the farm on it.”
79 min Darren Cann, assistant referee in the 2010 World Cup final, again thinks it was the correct decision to not award the penalty. I’ll bow to his superior knowledge, but Khusanov took a big risk by leaning quite strongly into Hato.
77 min A big chance for City to clinch it. Doku frees the underlapping O’Reilly on the left side of the area – but he cuts the ball back to nobody instead of trying to score another Wembley goal.
Chelsea break and there’s another penalty appeal for a challenge by Khusanov, this time on Hato (I think). It looked clumsy – he was the wrong side – but it’s been cleared by both the referee and VAR.
Chelsea’s Jorrel Hato (left) goes down in the penalty area under pressure from Manchester City’s Abdukodir Khusanov. Photograph: Tony O’Brien/ReutersShare
Updated at 12.02 EDT
76 min “Semenyo did a Zola?” says Giovanni Cafagna.
Updated at 11.40 EDT
75 min: Chelsea substiution Pedro Neto replaces Marc Cucurella, which presumably means a switch to 4-2-3-1.
Share74 min: Chance for Enzo!
Chelsea almost reply straight away. A long throw from the left is headed on by Colwill and volleyed onto the roof of the net by Enzo. He was only six yards out but had to flick the volley towards goal while wrestling with Guehi, so it wasn’t an easy chance.
Enzo Fernandez of Chelsea flicks ball over the bar. Photograph: Ed Sykes/Allstar Picture Library Ltd/SportsphotoShare
Updated at 12.03 EDT
Erling Haaland opened the game up with a sharp turn away from Fofana 30 yards from goal. He gave the ball to Bernardo, who played it back to Haaland on the right side of the area. Haaland drove a first-time cross towards the near post, where Semenyo dragged the ball behind his standing leg and into the far corner. That’s an outstanding finish!
Chelsea keeper Robert Sanchez watches as a backheel from Antoine Semenyo of Manchester City goes past him and into the net to open the scoring. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The GuardianSemenyo (centre) celebrates with Rayan Cherki (second left) Erling Haaland (second right) and teammates in front of the joyous City fans. Photograph: John Walton/PAShare
Updated at 11.57 EDT
GOAL! Chelsea 0-1 Man City (Semenyo 71)
Antoine Semenyo puts City ahead with a fabulous goal!
Manchester City’s Antoine Semenyo (right) celebrates after scoring the opening goal with a cheeky backheel. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The GuardianShare
Updated at 11.37 EDT
70 min The corner is headed away.
69 min Semenyo runs at Cucurella, who concedes a corner with a well-timed challenge. Semenyo has been a greater than threat than Doku so far.
67 min On that occasion, Khusanov barely touched Joao Pedro. I’m still not sure about the one before half-time though.
66 min Gusto clips an early cross into the box, where Joao Pedro goes down off the ball after some sort of touch from Khusanov. The referee isn’t interested, nor Stockley Park’s finest.
Chelsea’s Joao Pedro (right) reacts as he does down in the penalty area again. Photograph: John Walton/PAShare
Updated at 11.29 EDT
65 min: City substitution Mateo Kovacic replaces Rodri, who isn’t fit enough to go the distance. Phil Foden seemed to be getting ready too but he hasn’t come on yet.
63 min “Cynical Urges (50 min),” says Joe Pearson, “is my next band name.”
Who knew a band with a name like that would drop the first great yacht rock album?
61 min This is Chelsea’s best spell of the match, and Pep Guardiola is about to respond with a double substitution.
59 min James takes a corner on the right, gets the ball back from a near-post clearance and flips a delicious cross that is just too high for Fofana at the far post.
58 min Chelsea have two penalty appeals turned down in the space of 10 seconds. The first was for a challenge by Doku on Caicedo, the second when Enzo’s cross hits the elbow of O’Reilly. His arm was folded into his body so there’s nothing for VAR to see here.
56 min Khusanov is booked for barging Cucurella over. There were, before you mention it, some differences between that and the penalty appeal before half-time. No time for that because it’s all happening…
Share55 min: Rodri heads off the line!
James’ corner is headed up in the air, with Trafford in no man’s land as he tries to make up for that error. Caicedo heads it back towards the open goal and Rodri nods it away just in front of the goalline. Trafford probably would have made the save as he ran back desperately, but I wouldn’t put the farm on it.
54 min Trafford lets a backpass run under his foot and behind for a Chelsea corner. Could have been worse, a whole lot worse, because he wasn’t far from the goalline.