Man City Come From Behind to Beat Southampton 2-1 and Reach FA Cup Final

Man City sink Southampton

Man City trail with 11 minutes left but beat Southampton 2-1 via Doku deflected strike and Gonzalez long-range winner. Treble chase continues for City.

Manchester City strike late to beat Southampton and reach FA Cup final. Doku equalizes, Gonzalez nets 87th-minute winner after Azaz opener for Saints...

Nico Gonzalez scored the winner as seven-time champions Manchester City came from behind to edge Southampton 2-1 in the FA Cup semi-final, handing Saints their first defeat since late January.

The Saints reached Wembley for the first time since the 2023/24 Championship playoff final, having already knocked out Premier League sides Fulham and then-leaders Arsenal.

  

Facing them were the current Premier League leaders, competing in their eighth straight semi-final, who made eight changes from their previous match.

The changes didn’t disrupt City’s early flow, as they twice broke through the defense only to be stopped by tight offside calls on Omar Marmoush.

The assistant referee was involved again during a lively opening 15 minutes, raising his flag after Leo Scienza finished what he thought was the opening goal at the other end.

  

Southampton held their own in a competitive first half, but City still dominated possession and chances. Marmoush came closest with a near-post effort that Daniel Peretz turned away smartly.

That was the only shot on target from either side before half-time, meaning the Championship side failed to register a single attempt before the break.

Keeping their record of no first-half goals conceded in this season’s FA Cup, Southampton would have been happy with the goalless half-time scoreline. They nearly took the lead after the restart, but Nathan Ake’s well-timed recovery challenge denied Tom Fellows.

That wasn’t a sign of what was coming, though. Pep Guardiola made a double change before the hour mark to turn up the pressure on the Saints.

Southampton stayed defensively solid, forcing City to bring on Erling Haaland and Nico O'Reilly. Soon after, Saints were hanging on as Peretz denied Gonzalez before Tijjani Reijnders volleyed wide.

Remarkably, after wave after wave of City attacks, it was Southampton fans celebrating 11 minutes from time when Finn Azaz took the ball on the turn and curled an unstoppable shot past James Trafford with his second touch.

 

For Saints fans, the lead lasted just four minutes. Jeremy Doku fired in a driven shot that took a big deflection off James Bree and flew past Peretz.

Four minutes later, Gonzalez found space and drilled a long-range strike that flipped the tie on its head with little time left.

Southampton threw everything forward and even survived a counter with a goal-line clearance to deny Savinho, but they couldn’t find a response as City held on to reach the final at their expense.

  

Southampton won this competition as a second-tier side back in 1975/76, but they won’t repeat that feat this year as attention now turns to the Championship promotion race.

  

After Nico González's winner for @ManCity, Pep Guardiola went straight to Tijjani Reijnders to celebrate with him 🩵#EmiratesFACup pic.twitter.com/d9DSfVkTcZ

— Emirates FA Cup (@EmiratesFACup) April 26, 2026

For Guardiola’s side, hopes of another domestic treble remain alive, with a final against either Chelsea or Leeds United up next.