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Manchester City bounced back from the sadness of being knocked out of the Champions League quarter-finals at the hands of Real Madrid when Bernardo Silva’s late goal sank Chelsea at Wembley to seal a place in the FA Cup final.
Redemption for Silva after his poor penalty played a key role in City’s shootout defeat to Real.
The Portuguese midfielder hit the post after Kevin de Bruyne’s cross with six minutes remaining.
Chelsea will regret missing opportunities, almost all of which fell to striker Nicolas Jackson, as they endured another harrowing experience at Wembley after the extra-time penalty shootout defeat to Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final.
And Chelsea also feel they suffer an injustice, as they were furious that they had not been awarded a penalty at the time when Cole Palmer’s free-kick hit Jack Grealish’s hand against the wall, only for the video assistant referee to claim that no crime had been committed.
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City remain on course for the Premier League and FA Cup double and will now face arch-rivals Manchester United or Coventry City, the league team, in the final.
City manager Pep Guardiola has called on his side, who have been so bitterly disappointed when Real Madrid snatched the Champions League trophy from them, to pit once they face a highly motivated Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley.
And, at times, it seemed that the quest for victory got the better of them when they looked tired and leggy, just because their pedigree and muscular reminiscence kept them in contention until they could shake off the lethargy.
City didn’t even manage a shot on target in the first half, but they slowly gave themselves over to the game, as big teams do, finding a way to win.
Starters are capable of quality moments and it’s no surprise that it was De Bruyne who broke the impasse for Chelsea in a fatal exit in the past, with the Belgian picking Silva at the far post for the winning goal.
And it was a sweet moment for Silva, who opted to inflict a terrible penalty directly on Real goalkeeper Andriy Lunin in a decisive moment in the shoot-out against Real as City’s bid to win a second Champions League failed.
Here, as they have done so many times, the Portuguese arrived at the best time to send City to the FA Cup final.
The city will be exhausted after a gigantic effort, but it will be revitalized for the battles to come thanks to a hugely significant victory.
Chelsea and manager Mauricio Pochettino left Wembley with that feeling of “what could have been” once back after seeing a golden chance to reach the FA Cup final slip away.
Preferably, Pochettino set up his team to keep City at bay, but once again, as he did in the Carabao Cup final defeat to Liverpool, Chelsea were their own worst enemy by squandering opportunities to banish memories of that setback.
And striker Jackson was the biggest culprit, as he decided to bypass City goalkeeper Stefan Ortega when he came on in the first half, having failed to finish the job.
Jackson also dutifully shot low for Ortega to save in the second half, then saw a header go through the goalkeeper moments later when the striker had done better.
Chelsea will long argue that they were awarded the penalty for what they considered a handball by Grealish on Palmer’s free-kick, but to no avail.
Palmer, Chelsea’s wonder hope, had a quiet game against his former club and Chelsea will have to focus on a backlogged race for a place in Europe as their trophy hopes are over.