Manchester City 2 Southampton 1 - Nico Gonzalez wonder strike saves Pep Guardiola from shock upset

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MadisonMiami (FL)MichiganNorth TexasNotre DameOhio StateOklahomaOle MissOregonTexas A&MTexasTexas TechTulaneUSCUtahVanderbiltVirginiaNCAAMHomeTeamsScores & ScheduleStandingsTransfer Portal RankingsNBA DraftBracketAlabamaArizonaArkansasDukeFloridaGonzagaHoustonIllinoisIowaIowa StateKansasLouisvilleMiami (FL)Michigan StateMichiganNebraskaPurdueSt. John'sTennesseeTexasTexas TechUConnVanderbiltVirginiaWisconsinPeakMMAHomeMotorsportsHomePodcastsNASCARCultureHomeMemorabilia & CollectiblesGamingHomeSports BettingHomeFantasy FootballOddsNFL PicksAnalysing the Run-inRelegation RollercoasterTitle Race in NumbersAlex Scott's Unorthodox Road AnalysisManchester City 2 Southampton 1 – Nico Gonzalez wonder strike saves Pep Guardiola from shock upsetNico Gonzalez of Manchester City celebrates scoring the winner at Wembley Justin Setterfield/Getty Images Share article1Manchester City made a late comeback to reach a fourth consecutive FA Cup final as they were given an almighty scare by Championship club Southampton at Wembley. With 11 minutes left, Tonda Eckert’s team took a shock lead when the ball was worked to Finn Azaz on the edge of the box and he struck a fine curling shot beyond James Trafford. The Saints’ fans had barely finished celebrating when City were level, though. Jeremy Doku, on as a substitute, cut in from the left and hit a shot that deflected off James Bree and crept into the bottom corner. Then Nico Gonzalez produced a magnificent long range shot to break Southampton hearts. Mark Carey, Sam Lee and Dan Sheldon analyse the key talking points from a dramatic FA Cup semi-final at Wembley. Many expected this to be a walk in the park for Manchester City. But Southampton showed, in both their performance on the pitch and the noise their fans generated off it, that they were not just going to be making up the numbers. Yes, Manchester City dominated possession, just as you would expect them to, but Tonda Eckert, their 33-year-old head coach, came up against Guardiola and held his own from a tactical standpoint. And in a match where Southampton were going to need to moment of magic to give them a chance of causing an upset, Finn Azaz produced exactly that with less than 15 minutes to go. The 25-year-old received the ball outside the area, he turned, took one touch with his left foot, and then curled a right-footed shot past the fully-stretched James Trafford. Wonder goal from Azaz and Southampton lead 1-0 at Wembley ⚽ 📺 Watch live on TNT Sports and HBO Max pic.twitter.com/ZZ3rBPYBSA — Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) April 25, 2026 At the other end of the pitch, Southampton were incredibly difficult to break down and defended in a compact manner, leaving Guardiola’s side with little space to operate in. Even though they started to sit deeper as the game progressed, they did not shy away from launching a counter-attack when the opportunities arose — as Azaz’s strike proved. To concede moments later took the wind out of their sails and sent City on their way to score again before full time, but they can leave Wembley with their heads held high. Having not started a game for Manchester City in over six weeks, this was a chance for Phil Foden to play his way back into form. Beginning the game on the left side of City’s attack — and drifting inside in typical fashion — Foden struggled to impact the game against a defensively resolute Southampton side who were restricting space for City’s technicians to operate in central areas. Given Southampton’s shape, the space for City to exploit was in the wide areas but their efficacy was fleeting in the opening 45 minutes. Pep Guardiola recognised the frustrations his side were having, and tweaked things at the end of the first half — switching Foden to the right flank to stretch the opposition back line. With Tijani Reijnders similarly switched from right to left, City did have more success in their new set-up, but Foden was still unable to impose himself on the game in the way he would like. A skied effort in the second half was enough for Guardiola to look to the bench, and substitute Foden before the hour mark. The 25-year-old looked visibly frustrated as he departed — whether through his own performance or the fact he was hooked so soon into the second half — but form continues to plague Foden in recent months. It was also an admission of error from Guardiola after he brought on natural, out-and-out wingers in the form of Jeremy Doku and Savinho, but it was sadly not the afternoon that Foden would have hoped for. City were obviously rusty and lacking a cutting edge, which is no surprise considering they made so many changes. This is exactly what happened earlier in the second when Guardiola completely reshuffled the team for a Champions League group game against Bayer Leverkusen and they lost 2-0. Even Guardiola admitted he got that one wrong, in terms of playing so many players together despite them having little playing time behind them. So he will have known the risks of that happening again, especially against a Southampton side that have not lost since January. But these are the calculated gambles you have to make at this stage of the season, with the Premier League title on the line. On Wednesday night, when City beat Burnley 1-0 to go top, they were exhausted after their victory against Arsenal three days earlier, but Guardiola asked them to go to the well again. One more time, it turns out, before getting a rest on Saturday. It has to be this way: the team now have two days off before they are expected back in training, and many of them have booked flights from London on Saturday evening. Guardiola has a trusted starting XI at this point, and only one of those — Matheus Nunes — started at Wembley. The rest simply needed a break, and that was always going to be worth it, no matter the result If there was ever a case for FA Cup semi finals to no longer be held at Wembley, then Manchester City against Southampton should be it. The official attendance was 70,053, 20,000 shy of the 90,000 capacity, but the sea of empty red seats — in both hospitality and regular sections — painted a bleak picture. Southampton sold 35,000 tickets, increasing their allocation due to Manchester City not selling their full lot, but there were even pockets of red seats in the upper tiers of their end. An entire upper section of the City side was left empty. City’s fans receive plenty of stick for not selling out their semi-final appearances at Wembley, but it is worth remembering this is the 23rd time they have played at the stadium since Pep Guardiola took charge ahead of the 2016-17 season. Travel to and from Manchester, on top of a match ticket, is an expensive day out — especially if you are doing it as frequently as they have to. Before 2008, FA Cup semi-finals were played at neutral venues including Manchester United’s Old Trafford, Aston Villa’s Villa Park and Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough. But to coincide with the FA building the new Wembley, which opened in 2008, they saw hosting semi-final fixtures there as a way to recoup costs towards its development. However, Saturday night’s game was a strong case for them to be held at neutral venues, where the stadium would at least be sold out. We will bring you this after he has spoken at the post-match press conference. Monday, May 4: Everton (Away), Premier League, 8pm UK, 3pm ET Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms