Ronay and the scamp.
Poor Zack.
The player ratings ...
No word from Pep, but you can understand that. David Hytner’s report is in, though. Here it is. Thanks for reading this MBM. Enjoy the rest of the Easter break!
Jurgen Klopp talks to the Beeb. “I am absolutely proud. The first half was one of the best we have ever played. We did all the right stuff, scored in the right moments, an incredible game in the first half, I really loved each second of it. The second half started with a goal for Man City and then it opens up, they quality of City is insane. We respect the quality of City so much, it is so difficult to win against them, but because it’s these boys in my dressing room, we have a chance! We don’t use it as a statement, we just wanted to goal to the final. The quadruple talk, I cannot believe. We beat the best football team in the world, and that’s a pretty special moment.”
Virgil van Dijk speaks to the BBC, amid less bedlam this time. “We made it very difficult for ourselves in the end. But overall we are very happy to get to the final. It was a perfect first half, but they are the champions of England at the moment, and there will be moments when you have to suffer. It’s tough! It was warm, and intense, but we should have killed the game off in my opinion.” And the final? “It’s the only trophy we haven’t won [as a group] so we will give it a go, but whether it is Chelsea or Crystal Palace it will be tough regardless. We have to be ready for it.”
Sadio Mane speaks to the BBC, though he can barely be heard above the din being made by the celebrating Liverpool supporters. “It is special. It was not an easy game. It’s a big, big, big win. We are very pleased to qualify for the final. We started very well, we pressed them high, the goalkeeper made a mistake. I was very happy to score two goals, but the performance of the team was fantastic.” As for the quadruple? “We will try our best. We will fight for it.”
Liverpool will be back at Wembley next month after another ding-dong battle with Manchester City. Pep Guardiola must have delivered one hell of a half-time team-talk, because having been blown away in the first half, his players very nearly completed an outrageous comeback in the second. Liverpool were much the better team over the piece, though, with City strangely undercooked. Or maybe it’s not so strange, given their efforts in Madrid earlier in the week. Take nothing away from Liverpool, though; they were effervescent in attack from start to finish, with Mane and Luis Diaz particularly impressive. Jurgen Klopp runs up to the Liverpool supporters and does his fist-pumping, badge-patting, heart-beating thing. Chelsea or Crystal Palace will stand in the way of Liverpool’s eighth FA Cup.
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FULL TIME: Manchester City 2-3 Liverpool
Liverpool stumble over the line! They’re in their first FA Cup final since 2012!
90 min +5: This is absurd! Steffen comes out of his box to clear a loose ball. Firmino takes control. He tries to round the keeper, but with no success. Steffen claims.
90 min +4: The ball’s blootered up the other end. Salah scampers into acres down the right. You’d think he’d take the ball towards the corner flag, but he opts to shoot instead! Goal kick.
90 min +3: That corner leads to some pinball. Now it’s Mahrez’s turn to have a shot. That’s deflected out, too! From the second corner, Sterling gets the ball at his feet, just inside the box. He shapes a shot towards the bottom right. Alisson gets down to claim. Liverpool are really clinging on here!
90 min +2: Bedlam in the Liverpool box. The ball breaks to Fernandinho on the penalty spot. He volleys goalwards. Van Dijk deflects over the bar! Corner!
GOAL! Manchester City 2-3 Liverpool (Silva 90+1)
Yes they can! Mahrez skins Robertson down the right, reaches the byline, and shoots from a tight angle. Alisson makes a block, but the ball squirts across the face of goal to Silva, who slots from close range at the far post!
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90 min: BBC co-commentator Martin Keown names Sadio Mane as the man of the match. There will be four added minutes. Can City set up a dramatic climax?
89 min: Salah dribbles with pace down the right. He can’t get a shot away, Ake showing some great determination, and not for the first time this afternoon.
88 min: Henderson shovels a pass forward. Jota scampers after it, but Steffen wins the race.
87 min: Liverpool replace Thiago with Jones.
86 min: A news story on the disgraceful chanting during the period of silence.
85 min: Jota and Firmino come on for Diaz and Mane. Salah then dribbles into the City box from the right and scuffs a shot straight at Steffen.
84 min: Sterling wastes the free kick, hoicking it miles over the bar and wide left to boot.
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83 min: Jesus bursts down the inside-left channel and is brought down clumsily by Thiago. A free kick just to the left of the D, 25 yards out. Before it can be taken, Mahrez comes on for Jesus.
82 min: Van Dijk plays a long pass from the left-back position towards Salah on the right-hand edge of the City box. Steffen comes to the edge of his box to gather.
80 min: ... so having said that, Liverpool enjoy some possession of their own. They edge up the pitch. Diaz bobbles a shot straight at Steffen, who gathers without fuss.
78 min: Ake tries to release Cancelo down the right, but the pass is too strong. Nothing’s quite coming off for City right now, though they are beginning to dominate possession again.
76 min: Both teams take turns to play a little keep ball. Passages of play that benefit Liverpool more than City, given the scoreline and the numbers on the clock.
74 min: Henderson comes on for Keita.
72 min: Robertson pearls a long pass down the middle for Diaz, who brings the ball down on the edge of the box but can’t get a shot away. Instead he flicks wide right, hoping to find Salah. Zinchenko heads back towards his keeper, but doesn’t get enough on it. Salah nips in, and should score, but his dink over Steffen wafts into the side netting. A huge chance to put this game to bed. City remain hopeful.
71 min: Fabinho’s pass out from the back is cut out by Silva, then Grealish slips Jesus away down the inside left. He’s clear on goal! He shapes for the bottom right. Alisson stays big and makes the block with a strong hand. Nothing comes of the resulting corner. That’s a huge save.
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69 min: Keita releases the pressure with an overly ambitious whack at goal.
68 min: City struggle to get out of their final third as Liverpool turn up the press.
66 min: Salah nearly scuttles clear down the inside-right channel, but Ake holds firm, making sure he can’t get a shot away at the cost of a corner. The resulting set piece is a complete non-event.
65 min: Thaigo and Robertson confuse each other, allowing Jesus to tear off down the right. Jesus fires (I’m not going anywhere near the word ‘cross’, I just can’t) the ball into the mixer. Konate chests down and clears.
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63 min: City are dominating possession. Liverpool are holding their shape, there’s no way through at the minute.
61 min: Mane is booked for a crafty clip on Fernandinho’s heel.
60 min: Kevin De Bruyne - an injury concern before the game, having gashed his foot against Atletico Madrid - is warming up. We’ll see him soon as City prepare to roll the dice.
58 min: Here’s the full text of that apology issued by a Manchester City spokesperson. “Manchester City are extremely disappointed with the actions of some City supporters during the minute’s silence before today’s game. The club sincerely apologises to all those connected with Liverpool Football Club.”
56 min: Fernandinho comes sliding in at warp speed, flipping Mane into the air like an old sock. It’s a yellow card all day long. He was lucky not to be booked in the first half, so there’s a fair chance he might get hooked soon.
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55 min: Jesus springs that trap again, but this time Van Dijk ushers him wide and Alisson blocks out for a corner. Nothing comes of that set piece, either. The next goal so important here. Liverpool suddenly don’t look quite so imperious.
53 min: A free kick for Liverpool out on the right. Alexander-Arnold loops it in. Van Dijk prepares to sidefoot home from six yards, only for Ake to toe out for a corner. A crucial intervention. Nothing comes of the corner. “I’m going to be honest with you, I didn’t think Jesus was springing the offside trap until tomorrow.” Austin from Chicago there, because somebody had to. He’s here all week. Try the consecrated bread.
51 min: Diaz makes a nuisance of himself on the edge of the City box, teeing up Mane, who swivels and aims for the bottom right, but gets no real purchase on the shot.
49 min: Shades of Crystal Palace’s fast start to the second half against Liverpool in the 1990 semi? Liverpool fans of a certain vintage will remember that with a shudder. Meanwhile here’s Paul Griffin: “How can anyone watching a sunny FA Cup semi-final decide that they won’t spend sixty seconds reflecting on the deaths of three sisters, three pairs of brothers, a father and his son, a ten year old boy, two expectant fathers, and dozens of teenagers, adults, men and women who went to watch another sunny FA Cup semi final football and didn’t come home? Emetic.”
48 min: Keita is booked for a high kick on Fernandinho. Liverpool’s turn to be rattled?
GOAL! Manchester City 1-3 Liverpool (Grealish 47)
It’s taken 70 seconds for City to get back into this! Jesus springs the offside trap down the right, holding off Fabinho and rolling across for Grealish, who pearls a shot into the top left from 12 yards. It’s back on!
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City get the second half started. No changes. Meanwhile the club have reportedly issued an apology to Liverpool for the actions of some of their fans during the minute’s silence for the victims of Hillsborough.
A depressing line here from the Press Association. “The match was to be preceded by a minute’s silence for the 33rd anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster but this was cut short by referee Michael Oliver after chants from the City end.”
Half-time entertainment. Crystal Palace take on Chelsea in the other semi-final tomorrow afternoon. Ed Aarons profiles one of the men behind Palace’s renaissance.
HALF TIME: Manchester City 0-3 Liverpool
You’d have got good odds on this. Liverpool have been magnificent. City are on the ropes all right.
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GOAL! Manchester City 0-3 Liverpool (Mane 45)
That speech is going to be even more crucial now. Thiago dinks a one-two with Alexander-Arnold on the edge of the City D, before stroking a pass towards Mane, bombing in from the right. Mane, brimful of confidence, lashes a first-time shot into the bottom right, giving Steffen no chance!
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44 min: Pep is in deep discussion with his staff, planning that half-time speech.
43 min: Cancelo bodychecks Diaz as the tricky Liverpool winger fizzes down the left. The free kick is whipped into the mixer. Stones wins a crucial header with red shirts lurking.
41 min: Alexander-Arnold, Thiago, Salah and Keita probe down the right. Ake stands firm to make sure there’s no way through ... just. Liverpool certainly aren’t sitting on their lead.
39 min: Fair play to Steffen. Alexander-Arnold rakes a pass down the middle for Salah, who would be clear on goal had the keeper not read the danger, coming well out of his area to control and clear under pressure. That’s some brave work given what happened earlier.
37 min: Fabinho is booked for a cynical clip on Jesus, who was making good down the right. This is getting scrappy.
36 min: Salah rolls a pass down the left for Robertson, who initially looks like romping clear into the box. But Cancelo comes across and executes a perfectly timed sliding tackle, even winning the throw. Top-drawer defending.
35 min: Silva kicks the back of Mane’s leg. Again he gets away with one. On the touchline, Klopp enters into a discussion with the fourth official. You can probably guess the content.
33 min: The referee is in a laissez-faire mood all right. Now he shows lenience with Mane, who had wafted a hand into Cancelo’s face while challenging for Alexander-Arnold’s long ball.
32 min: Silva comes clattering into Fabinho and becomes the second City player fairly lucky to avoid a booking.
31 min: City are beginning to dominate possession, but aren’t doing a whole lot with it.
29 min: Another shaky Alisson clearance, Grealish nearly closing him down, the ball pinging off the City man and inviting a period of pressure. Nothing comes of the phase, but the nerves are showing at both ends.
27 min: Diaz spins into space in the middle of the park and is cynically tripped by Jesus, who goes into the book.
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26 min: Sterling has a run at the Liverpool defence. Diaz and Robertson combine to close down the route. Thiago sashays up the other end and finds Salah on the right. Salah tries to find Mane at the far stick but his cross is intercepted easily by Stones.
24 min: Fernandinho hangs out a leg as Diaz makes his way down the left. It’s a free kick, but he’s very lucky not to go into the book. Robertson’s ball in is easily dealt with by City.
22 min: That’ll have caused Alisson some consternation, the goalkeeper’s union and all that. He makes a couple of slightly shaky clearances himself. There but for the grace of God, etc.
20 min: City pass the ball back to Steffen. Ironic cheers. It’s going to be a long 70 minutes for poor Steffen.
19 min: Did City learn nothing from Ederson’s scrape with Diogo Jota in the Premier League match last week?! Oh my.
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GOAL! Manchester City 0-2 Liverpool (Mane 17)
This is a complete farce! City stroke it around the back. The ball ends up at the feet of Steffen, on the edge of his six-yard box. Steffen takes a heavy touch. Enough to let Mane slide in and force the ball into the net! An absolute howler by the City keeper!
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15 min: Fernandinho takes a free kick in the centre circle, looking for Cancelo down the right. He springs him clear, but the offside flag goes up. City come again, though. A high cross comes in from the right. Foden does well to win a header, stretching every sinew, but he can only send the ball looping into Alisson’s arms.
13 min: Thiago finds Salah down the right. Salah is uncharacteristically ponderous and fails to get a cross in. Liverpool are on top right now.
11 min: Now it’s City’s turn to win a corner, Sterling panicking Van Dijk into a sliced clearance. Foden hits the first man with a poor delivery. Meanwhile red smoke from a flare wafts through the Liverpool box.
GOAL! Manchester City 0-1 Liverpool (Konate 9)
Mane skitters down the left and wins a corner. It’s sent into the mixer by Robertson. Konate rises highest on the edge of the six-yard box, miles above Ake, and powers a header into the top left! Three in three for the big defender; the man’s a goal machine.
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8 min: Sterling takes Konate on in a foot race down the left. He doesn’t win it, but only because the defender gives him a light shove in the back. No free kick, but this could develop into an interesting duel.
7 min: Stones floats another poor ball across the edge of his own box and nearly lets Keita in. Liverpool’s press is causing City one or two problems in these early exchanges.
6 min: Stones ships possession cheaply, allowing Mane to scoop a pass into the box for Salah, who can’t quite get the ball under control. Keita tries to keep things going out on the right but Zinchenko and Foden combine to ensure there’s no shot on goal.
4 min: The first shot in anger is taken by Grealish. Fernandinho rakes a diagonal pass towards Cancelo on the right. Cancelo cuts back for Grealish, who hesitates before taking a shot that’s blocked. He should have taken that one first time.
2 min: A high-octane start. Alisson blooters a pass down the right wing. Steffen hoicks another out of play. Alexander-Arnold swishes a ball down the right for Salah, who is miles offside. Plenty of time yet for everyone to find their feet.
Liverpool get the ball rolling ... but only after the players take a knee. There’s no room for racism.
Before kick-off, a moment of silence to commemorate the 97 fans who died at the 1989 FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. JFT97.
The teams are out! Wembley is packed to the rafters, sun shimmering across the hallowed turf, and the place is bouncing. Both sets of supporters are definitely up for the cup. Manchester City wear their sky blue, while Liverpool are all in red. The two best teams in the country are about to face off for a place in the 141st FA Cup final. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes!
Pep Guardiola talks to the BBC ... “The team we select is fantastic. We had no alternative. We have incredibly mentally and physically demanding fixtures. There is no other chance to do it. Fresh legs, fresh mentality. This is an important one. Exciting. We don’t choose competitions, we try in every game to do our best.”
... as does Jurgen Klopp. “It’s my seventh season in England and I have said everything in meetings once, twice, three times, four times, but I have never said ‘Welcome to the semi-final of the FA Cup’ [giggles] so I was allowed to say that today. It’s big for us. It is our first chance and hopefully we can use it.”
There’s already a carnival atmosphere at sunny Wembley. Thousands of fans are flocking to the stadium bedecked in blue or resplendent in red, in honour of their heroes. This gentleman has pinned his colours to the mast with an old-fashioned bespoke hat ...
... a nod to the days when visitors to Wembley regularly marked the occasion by cobbling together a fancy outfit out of random tat. Yes, Gordon sprang to our mind too.
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It’s already been a good day for Manchester City. Lauren Hemp scored twice, with Ellen White and Chloe Kelly also finding the net, as City WFC reached the final of the Women’s FA Cup with a 4-1 rout of West Ham United. Maryam Naz tells the tale.
Both teams make seven changes to the sides named in the Champions League during the week. Manchester City replace Ederson in goal with cup specialist Zack Steffen. Also stepping up: Nathan Ake, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Fernandinho, Jack Grealish, Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling. Ederson, Aymeric Laporte, Ilkay Gundogan, Riyad Mahrez, Rodri and Kevin De Bruyne drop to the bench. De Bruyne, a fitness doubt having required stitches in his foot, has at least made the bench; Kyle Walker is absent entirely.
Liverpool recall their big guns. Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Thiago, Virgil van Dijk, Andy Robertson, Fabinho and Trent Alexander-Arnold are back. Dropping to the bench: Joe Gomez, Kostas Tsimikas, Joel Matip, James Milner, Diogo Jota, Roberto Firmino and captain Jordan Henderson.
The teams
Manchester City: Steffen, Joao Cancelo, Stones, Ake, Zinchenko, Bernardo Silva, Fernandinho, Grealish, Foden, Gabriel Jesus, Sterling.
Subs: Dias, Gundogan, Laporte, Rodri, De Bruyne, Mahrez, Ederson, Delap, Lavia.
Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Konate, van Dijk, Robertson, Keita, Fabinho, Thiago, Salah, Diaz, Mane.
Subs: Milner, Firmino, Gomez, Henderson, Jones, Jota, Tsimikas, Matip, Kelleher.
Referee: Michael Oliver (Northumberland).
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Preamble
There’s barely a cigarette paper between them in the Premier League, there’s a fair chance they could meet in the Champions League final, and now Manchester City and Liverpool take each other on in the semi-final of the FA Cup. If this is half as good as last weekend’s showdown in the Premier League, we’ll be doing well, and nobody would mind too much if we get treated to extra time and penalties. Well, maybe both managers and all the players, with both clubs facing a hectic end-of-season schedule, but you can’t please everyone. Kick-off at Wembley is at 3.30pm. It’s on!
