Man City beat Saints to reach FA Cup semi-finals
Key takeaways:
- Kevin de Bruyne netted his 1st FA Cup goal to give City the lead.
- Manchester City turned on the ability to crush a strong challenge from Southampton to book a place in the FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley.
Man City move to the FA Cup finals:
Saints were in contention for almost an hour in a close encounter at St Mary's after Aymeric Laporte's goal on half-time revoked Raheem Sterling's early strike.
This FA Cup quarter-final turned on Mohammed Salisu's reckless challenge on Gabriel Jesus. Kevin de Bruyne converted City's lead from the penalty area after 62 minutes, finishing Southampton's challenge.
Substitute Phil Foden's superb left-foot strike ended any faint expectancy of a Saints comeback, and, as City took full control, Riyad Mahrez added a fourth with 12 minutes left.
Man City get the job accomplished
Manchester City ran out of decisive winners, but until Salisu's unnecessary intervention resulted in De Bruyne's penalty, they terrorized to pay the price for dereliction in possession.
Once De Bruyne had netted yet, City showed the quality and brutality that has put them at the top of the Premier League and even in contention for the FA Cup and Champions League.
Boss Pep Guardiola can also present such power off the bench, illustrated by the assistance from Foden and Mahrez.
Foden's 75th-minute goal was lovely; a rising drive from 20 yards made a sweet thudding sound around St Mary's once he hit with his left foot.
Mahrez netted one goal and could have had more, but the fantastic orchestrator was man-of-the-match De Bruyne, pulling the strings and stepping on to smash Fraser Forster with a penalty that put City back in charge.
The point that City can win convincingly without touching the heights they are capable of will sound an alarming sign to anyone wanting to deprive them of those three main prizes they will contest between now and the end of the season.