Quadruple-chasing City land in FA Cup final

Manchester City have booked their place in the final of the FA Cup courtesy of a narrow 1-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion at Wembley on Saturday.
The Seagulls – appearing in the semis for only the second time in their history and the first since 1983 – contained the English champions for long spells, but ultimately could not recover from Gabriel Jesus’s early opener.
City were dominant in possession but far short of their usual best as they edged into a first FA Cup final sincerely 2013, taking another significant step towards an unprecedented quadruple.
Aymeric Laporte and Kyle Walker were both involved in the buildup, but it was Kevin De Bruyne who provided the moment of real quality by whipping an undefendable cross into the box which Jesus stooped to nod home from close range.
Brighton’s noisy travelling support may have been fearing the worst at that stage as Man City made a trademark quick start to the match, enjoying more than 80 per cent possession during the first 10 minutes.
The Seagulls did slowly begin to grow into the game and stem the tide of City attacks, although going forward they failed to test Ederson with Davy Propper and Anthony Knockaert both firing off target.
It took a last-ditch clearance from Laporte to deny a certain equaliser when Shane Duffy rose highest to meet a corner and knock it down into the six-yard box, where Glenn Murray would have hooked it home had Laporte not somehow sliced it over his own crossbar.
City continued to enjoy the lion’s share of possession without much penetration, although Mathew Ryan was called upon to make saves from long-range Ilkay Gundogan and Sterling efforts.
Brighton’s best moment of the closing stages came four minutes from time when Propper’s incisive pass found Jose Izquierdo, who cut inside before firing a well-struck shot towards goal which Ederson plucked out of the air.
It was the only save Ederson had to make, though, and Brighton may feel as though they missed an opportunity to put more pressure on a below-par City side as the game petered out.
Man City were the team that came closest to adding a second goal late on when first Danilo fired over from range, and then Sterling drew a late save from Ryan at the end of a blistering counter-attack which saw Jesus clip the ball into his path.
Ultimately the early goal was enough to send Man City into the final, though, and they will return to Wembley again next month against either Watford or Wolverhampton Wanderers hoping to lift the trophy for the first time since 2011.