Kevin De Bruyne has admitted that Manchester City's players knew they didn't play well for a large portion of Sunday's FA Cup victory over Southampton.
Though City eventually ran out 4-1 winners on the south coast, the scoreline doesn't tell the whole story of the match. Pep Guardiola's side had struggled against the Saints in their two previous matches this season and the same happened again.
Adam Armstrong hit the post early on just before Raheem Sterling gave the Blues the lead, but Southampton were undeterred and continued to press their opponents into sloppy mistakes. Just before half-time, City lost the ball and it eventually led to Aymeric Laporte deflecting the ball into his own goal.
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Southampton continued to see plenty of the ball after the break and were looking the more likely to take the lead until Gabriel Jesus was upended in the box and Kevin De Bruyne tucked home the penalty. Riyad Mahrez and Phil Foden were then introduced and their quality swung the game back into City's favour as they both scored in a clinical final half-hour.
Though City eventually booked a trip to Wembley in comfort, De Bruyne admits they weren't at their best for much of the match. "Think the first 20/25 minutes we did well," he said when asked by the BBC what was said in the dressing room at half-time.
"After we made too many stupid mistakes and we chose the wrong options, and it allowed Southampton to get back in the game. So, not a lot was said apart from to play better, and I think we did that.
"I think we didn’t play our best but then after the break we did much better. The third and the fourth goal were beautiful goals and we saw how good we can play."
City are looking to lift the FA Cup for only the second time during Guardiola's reign as they aim to also win the Premier League and Champions League. De Bruyne added: "We want to win every competition we enter but we have been in the semi-finals a couple of times but lost that one, so we are happy and privileged that we won and are able to go on this time."
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