Category: FA Cup

Bafflement at Old Trafford, Chelsea’s Wembley drought goes on and Leeds give fans cause for optimism

Luke Shaw’s first goal in over three years for Manchester United was a further reminder of the left-back’s capabilities. This has been his best season at Old Trafford having featured in all 37 league games thus far, leaving his injury-prone past forgotten. Considering Shaw’s experience and quality, he should be considered for a spot at the World Cup. Thomas Tuchel does not have a vast array of riches in the position and Shaw’s consistency has been key to Michael Carrick’s turnaround at Old Trafford. “He deserves to go,” said Carrick after the win against Nottingham Forest. “His consistency, his performances, his experience, his qualities. He’s an excellent full-back.” Nico O’Reilly is the current first choice for England and he has a very different profile from Shaw, having converted from playing as a central midfielder under Pep Guardiola. Tuchel may want to take Shaw to provide variety and reliability, which would be a sensible approach. Will Unwin

Match report: Manchester United 3-2 Nottingham Forest

Match report: Newcastle 3-1 West Ham

Match report: Aston Villa 4-2 Liverpool

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Pep Guardiola said Manchester City would not have 'even one beer' to celebrate Saturday’s 1-0 FA Cup final triumph over Chelsea due to the title race, though the manager was coy regarding his future.

Antoine Semenyo’s 72nd-minute flicked finish gave City a second trophy of the season at Wembley following March’s Carabao Cup win over Arsenal.

'Home [now] – not even one beer,' he said. 'Next Monday after Aston Villa, we’re going to celebrate it with the women’s team. The club said that to me [with] some parade in Manchester because we must celebrate with both teams.

'There is no time [to celebrate]. Chelsea had seven days to prepare for the final, we had three days and yesterday [Friday] was a nightmare. We spent six hours from the city to here. The trains are a little bit of a problem in this country.'

• Guardiola says ‘no time’ to celebrate FA Cup win with league still to play for

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Antoine Semenyo’s brilliant goal settled a hard-fought final and brought more glory to Pep Guardiola’s City

‘Stirring’ is the subject of Matt Dony’s email. And he doesn’t mean a synonym of ‘rousing’

Is the score not something like 115-74 to City? The magic of the cup, eh?

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• FA Cup final will be 24th trip to stadium as City manager

• Spaniard aiming to win 17th major honour in decade

Pep Guardiola has described his ­decade managing Manchester City as “fucking fun”, and suggested Saturday’s FA Cup final against Chelsea might not be the last time he leads the team out at Wembley.

While Guardiola’s contract expires in summer 2027, there is increasing expectation that he will depart the club in the close season. Saturday’s final will be City’s 24th cup appearance at the national stadium under the Spaniard, with Guardiola aiming to claim the 17th major trophy of his 10 years in charge.

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A defiant performance against Manchester City could deliver silverware in a year in which the club has already sacked two head coaches

Chelsea fared well as underdogs in their most recent outing in a final. They surprised Paris Saint-Germain in last summer’s Club World Cup, racing into an unassailable 3-0 lead by half-time and disrupting the European champions thanks to a clever tactical approach from Enzo Maresca.

Perhaps there will be more of the same at Wembley. Chelsea have form when it comes to upsetting the odds in a big game, although the one problem with bringing up the PSG win before Saturday afternoon’s FA Cup final against Manchester City is that the challenge of coming up with a plan smart enough to beat Pep Guardiola is no longer Maresca’s responsibility.

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Manchester City defender led Crystal Palace to Wembley triumph last season and is back to take on Chelsea

Marc Guéhi’s whirlwind 12 months in the FA Cup: captaining Crystal Palace to glory at Wembley last season, experiencing the competition’s greatest shock via the holders’ third-round elimination at sixth-tier Macclesfield and, on Saturday, aiming to claim the trophy again when Manchester City face Chelsea.

In a story-rich competition the defender’s is one of the more intriguing, particularly as Palace’s triumph was their first trophy and City, who he joined nine days after the Macclesfield reverse, were their scalps in the final, beaten 1-0 by Eberechi Eze’s 16th-minute strike.

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Wreathed with more than 150 years of hopes, dreams and drama, the FA Cup reflects sporting heritage and mystique

Footballing physiques have changed a great deal over the decades, but when Chelsea meet Manchester City on Saturday there’s one outline we’ll all recognise. While the average shape has got leaner and more toned, this body has stayed comfortable in its old-school proportions. A modest waist gives on to surprisingly wide hips. Arms that have never lifted weights remain a little skinny for the frame. And yet none of this has been a hindrance in the modern game: every year, the FA Cup trophy still ends up on the winning team.

This is one of sport’s most iconic pieces of silverware, wreathed with more than 150 years of hopes, dreams and drama. It’s a far more emotive sight than the cartoonishly crowned Premier League trophy, or even the stylishly minimalist Champions League trophy. And this makes it even more extraordinary to remember that the object itself is still not out of its tween years. This weekend it will make its 13th Cup final appearance.

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Sánchez plays long game for McFarlane, Southampton can take heart, Arteta tries to gain edge and Isak will come good

One moment from their FA Cup semi-final to Chelsea will haunt Leeds. When Tosin Adarabioyo stretched for a through ball and couldn’t quite get there, quarter of an hour in, everything seemed to slow down. There was Brenden Aaronson with just Robert Sánchez to beat, with the chance to put Leeds ahead against a side that hadn’t scored in five Premier League games and had seemingly lost all confidence. Even at the time it felt a huge moment. The US international didn’t do much wrong, but Sánchez made a fine save with his foot. That, it turned out, was the game. There were other opportunities – most notably Anton Stach’s drive that Sánchez saved spectacularly and the Dominic Calvert-Lewin header just after that, aimed straight at the keeper. They came after Chelsea had taken the lead and the emotional tone was set, though. Sometimes one chance can define a game. Jonathan Wilson

FA Cup semi-final report: Chelsea 1-0 Leeds

Jonathan Wilson: Chelsea chaos theory delivers another trophy chance

FA Cup semi-final report: Manchester City 2-1 Southampton

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Enzo Fernandez’s classy header sent a much-improved Chelsea into another FA Cup final

The Guardian has kicked off a new chapter in puzzles with the launch of its first daily football game, On the ball. It is now live in the app for both iOS and Android … so what are you waiting for?

Chelsea have also been in WSL action today. You can read all about their game at Everton, plus the latest in the Scottish title race and more, with our clockwatch.

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Daniel Farke would become the second manager, following the great Don Revie, to reach the final

There will be a mixture of excitement and trepidation for Leeds supporters when they descend on Wembley for their FA Cup semi-final with Chelsea on Sunday, returning to a venue that evokes plenty of painful memories, but that could now provide the springboard to a brighter future.

Leeds have lost on their past three visits; you have to go back to the days of Gordon Strachan, Gary McAllister and Eric Cantona for their last win there when, as champions of England, they defeated Liverpool in the 1992 Charity Shield.

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Finn Azaz’s stunner threatened a Saints shock but Nico Gonzalez responded with an all-timer of his own to send City to their fourth consecutive final

1 min: City waste no time in establishing how they plan to go about this. A lot of patient possession. Saints yet to have a touch.

Manchester City get the ball rolling. April. Wembley. Sun. It’s that time of year. What’s not to love?

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The German has twice come close to the sack but has led team towards safety and first FA Cup semi since 1987

The crate was crammed with bottles but Daniel Farke made light work of hoisting it on to a table and inviting everyone to help themselves. It was a little after 10.30 one night in April last year, an already-promoted Leeds had just beaten Bristol City, and the manager was offering journalists an end-of-season beer.

Such gestures are increasingly unusual in an ever-more corporate and sanitised sport, but Farke brings a human touch to proceedings. Indeed, his refreshingly down-to-earth approach is reminiscent of an illustrious title-winning predecessor. Behind a blunt exterior Howard Wilkinson was a caring manager who, spotting a journalist stranded outside Elland Road late one night, drove him home to Sheffield. It seems the sort of thing Farke might also do.

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Fiftieth anniversary of an FA Cup win still central to their city’s identity forms an evocative backdrop to Saints’ semi-final against Manchester City

Two years ago, when sixth-tier Maidstone won at Ipswich to reach the fifth round of the FA Cup for the first time, their manager, George Elokobi, distilled the unique, enduring impact of an FA Cup giantkilling into five syllables: “This binds us for life.”

The same bond, only even more powerful, will be in evidence on the south coast in the next week. All connected with Southampton hope to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their only FA Cup final triumph having reached another final.

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