Manchester City claimed a hard-fought 2-1 comeback victory over Southampton in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley Stadium on Saturday.
Omar Marmoush almost opened the scoring five minutes into the game after he got onto Tijjani Reijnders’ pass, but his effort struck the post.
At the other end, Leo Scienza thought he had given Southampton the lead after he finished past James Trafford, but he was denied by the offside flag before Ross Stewart headed his cross wide moments later.
In the 35th minute, Marmoush went close to breaking the deadlock after he was found by Mateo Kovacic, but his effort from a tight angle was beaten away by Daniel Peretz.
Shortly after the restart, Nathan Wood made two huge blocks to deny Rayan Cherki and Matheus Nunes the opener.
On the hour mark, Reijnders saw his curling effort float just wide before Marmoush miscued his finish from close-range as City searched for the breakthrough.
Moments later, Savinho tried his luck from distance, but his fierce strike was parried away by Peretz.
Peretz was called into action again minutes later as he kept out Nico Gonzalez’s powerful effort before Reijnders fired the rebound narrowly wide.
In the 79th minute, Finn Azaz finally broke the deadlock after he found the top corner in extraordinary fashion.
Three minutes later, Jeremy Doku drew City level after his deflected strike nestled into the bottom corner.
Minutes later, the Saints could’ve retaken the lead, but Kuryu Matsuki’s powerful strike was palmed away by Trafford.
Gonzalez completed the turnaround in the 87th minute, unleashing a screamer into the top corner.
In the closing stages of the game, Savinho could’ve got City’s third after he was found by Doku on the break, but his effort was cleared off the line by Matsuki.
Manchester City will face either Chelsea or Leeds United in the FA Cup final on May 16.
