Bernardo and the divine justice of those who deserve everything: Manchester City beats Chelsea and returns to the FA Cup final
After another great performance, Bernardo Silva missed one of the penalties against Real, was criticized for the way he shot and there was talk of leaving again. In the following game, he gave City the victory (1-0).
After a dream weekend, a nightmare week. Manchester City lowered its expectations of regaining the title after the goalless draw at the Etihad against Arsenal, but a Sunday of surprising defeats for the Gunners against Aston Villa and Liverpool against Crystal Palace put the citizens back at the top of the Premier League. League depending only on themselves to win the Championship. However, the euphoria was short-lived: in a meeting between the two best teams in Europe, Real Madrid avenged last season’s defeat in England and left Pep Guardiola’s team out of the Champions League. At a disadvantage early on, Kevin de Bruyne and company left the Merengues close to their area, had countless chances to score, played better but ended up losing.
More than the frustrated Treble hypothesis , the way the team fell in the Champions League quarter-finals would always leave its mark. A mark on Kevin de Bruyne, who had the best match since returning from injury but failed to come back. A mark on Bernardo Silva, who was once again central to City’s game but wasted one of the penalties. A mark on Erling Haaland, who continues to be the top scorer but is once again left blank. Above all, a collective brand, from a team that was seeing the season slip away from its fingers, it once again had everything in its hands but ended up giving in on the first major goal that would determine the team that would be favorites to win the European title from the halfway point. .
Then, a question of calendar. Whatever the result, there would be no time to breathe because Manchester City would have to face the semi-final of the FA Cup this Saturday, but face the match against Chelsea, against whom they had drawn both matches played this season in the Premier League, with the low mood levels were an extra difficulty in the form of a challenge for the (despite everything) still reigning European champion. At the end of the game, if there is such a thing as divine justice, it smiled at Bernardo Silva: following the missed penalty that raised a lot of criticism for the way it hit Lunin’s figure and days in which there was much talk again about a possible Leaving at the end of the season, the Portuguese never left the game despite not having a happy afternoon and ended up scoring the winning goal at Wembley that put the citizens back in the final of the competition, against Manchester United or Coventry.
The image that prevailed in the first half was that of a “dejected” Manchester City. With the departure of Ederson, Rúben Dias, Gvardiol and Haaland (with a small muscle problem) and the arrival of Ortega, Nathan Aké, John Stones and Julian Álvarez, Pep Guardiola’s team still had a clear opportunity to score, with a fantastic pass of Kevin de Bruyne isolating Phil Foden before a feint that was longer and then gave no room for a shot at goal, but he never managed to show the best version he can have with and without the ball, among the merit of a Chelsea that played at a level above the ninth place it occupies in the Premier and could have reached half-time with an advantage in a play in which Nicolas Jackson advanced the ball too much in the area and in a shot by Cole Palmer that was saved by Ortega (37′).
The second half began with the cameras focusing with particular interest on Didier Dogba, a striker who was in the stands to watch his former London team. It was clear why: in two moments of the same play, Nicolas Jackson had the opportunity to open the scoring alone with Oretega stopping both attempts (49′). Soon after, Phil Foden received the ball from Kevin De Bruyne and forced Petrovic to make the first big save of the game. The match “woke up” from the monotony, with both teams betting on reaching 1-0 that would completely change the course until the end and a controversial move with a hand from Grealish in the area after a free-kick by Cole Palmer that did not result in a penalty. Guardiola introduced Doku into the game and that was when he began to gain another weight in offensive terms, confirmed in an inglorious way for Chelsea six minutes from the end when Bernardo Silva took advantage of a rebound in the area and shot to make it 1-0.
Chelsea fa cup, Taça de Inglaterra, taça inglaterra, City x Chelsea
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