Pakistan, May 17 — Throughout its 155-year history, the FA Cup final has rarely witnessed a more daring goal. Manchester City defeated Chelsea 1-0 at Wembley Stadium on Saturday due to a magical moment by Antoine Semenyo.
The forward made the final memorable with a remarkable back-heeled goal in the second half, as it had lacked many opportunities or excitement. In the 72nd minute, Semenyo received a cross from Erling Haaland and used his heel to strike the ball, sending it low into the far corner past the diving Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez.
It has occurred a few times during training, but it happened perfectly today. It came straight to me and I had to think on my feet as fast as I could,” Semenyo said to the BBC. “It was a good finish, I can’t deny that.” Chelsea’s interim coach Calum McFarlane agreed. “In my opinion, it’s a one-in-a-hundred goal, it’s a very low XG goal,” he added. “For me, there’s not much more you could have done to stop it.” The win kept City in the race for a domestic trophy treble, after they had already secured the English League Cup. Pep Guardiola’s team is currently second in the Premier League, two points behind Arsenal with two games remaining. This was Guardiola’s 17th major trophy in 10 years at City and his 35th overall in his career. City has claimed the Cup eight times, placing them level with Chelsea, Liverpool, and Tottenham as third on the list of all-time winners.
A loss means Chelsea will finish the season without any trophies – just a year after winning the Club World Cup – in what has been a season filled with difficulties. Following the dismissal of two coaches since the start of the year, Chelsea entered the final with an inexperienced manager on the bench in McFarlane, a former youth coach making his seventh appearance in charge of the first team.
The chaos at Chelsea resulted in fans organizing a demonstration against the American owners outside the stadium prior to the match. In that regard, it was praiseworthy that McFarlane managed to trouble Guardiola for extended periods. However, this changed when Semenyo delivered the decisive moment of the game. The Ghanaian player moved to City from Bournemouth in January and made an instant impact—scoring 10 goals and contributing to two team trophies.
