Nico Gonzalez sends Manchester City through to FA Cup final in dramatic encounter against Southampton

Lewis Henderson
Sat, 25 Apr 2026 18:19:12 +0000

Manchester City have reached the FA Cup final after a dramatic 2-1 win against Southampton in an incredible encounter.

Nico Gonzalez's thunderbolt saw the Citizens come from behind to beat the Saints in a thrilling semi-final.

Finn Azaz initially handed Southampton the lead with an incredible right-footed curler before being answered back inside four minutes.

Jeremy Doku's deflected strike gave City the momentum, with Gonzalez's strike enough to keep the domestic treble hopes alive.

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Proceedings started with Leo Scienza thinking he had opened the scoring in the 12th minute when he got in behind and steadied himself one-on-one against James Trafford.

A cool finish with his right foot into the bottom right corner sent the Saints' flags ballistic, but to their disappointment, the official's flag was up over this far side.

City dominated possession and kept Southampton pinned in their own half for large periods of the game but struggled to find much room for strikes on goal.

Mateo Kovacic made a good run in the opening twenty minutes but blazed his effort well wide.

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Half an hour in, James Bree put in a teasing delivery into the penalty area, but no yellow shirt was there to get on the end of it.

City started to put on the pressure, as Omar Marmoush got himself in behind but was denied after a great save by Daniel Peretz.

Not long after, Tijani Reijnders tried to emulate Wayne Rooney, who was watching next to former City star Micah Richards, with an ambitious bicycle kick.

However, he failed to make proper contact on the ball, to the jeers of the Saints' fans.

Tom Fellows thought he was going to break the deadlock in the first minute of the second half, but a moment of hesitation gave Nathan Ake the chance to get back and make a big challenge.

Ross Stewart had a half-decent effort on goal 10 minutes into the second half, but it was easily saved by James Trafford.

Reijinders went close just before the hour mark when he saw his right-footed curler just go wide.

The Citizens continued to pile on the pressure as Marmoush's close-range effort just went over the bar, in the best chance of the game to this moment.

Erling Haaland and Nico O'Reilly both came on with twenty minutes left as Guardiola stepped things up a notch.

Just a minute after the pair came on, Reijnders nearly scored after a great save initially by Peretz, with it eventually falling to the Dutchman, who put his effort wide.

Azaz then stepped up to the occasion by giving the Saints the lead.

A beautiful curled effort past Trafford into the top right corner, but it was soon answered back.

Doku scored straight up the other end with a deflected shot flying past a scrambling Peretz to make it 1-1.

Gonzalez was then the hero with an incredible right-footed drive to win the game for Pep Guardiola's team.

City were close to getting a third before a heroic goal-line clearance after Peretz came a good 60 yards out of his goal.

The Saints bow out of the competition with their heads held high, knowing that on another day it could have gone their way.

City set up an FA Cup final with either Chelsea or Leeds United, who play at Wembley tomorrow.