Manchester City fought back from behind courtesy of an excellent second-half performance to beat Bournemouth 2-1 and set up an FA Cup semi-final with Nottingham Forest.
Andoni Iraola’s team started brightly on the south coast and opened the scoring when Matheus Nunes’ horror-pass across the pitch allowed Bournemouth to attack and Justin Kluivert’s effort was bundled in by Evanilson.
City had already squandered a penalty when Erling Haaland was denied from 12 yards by Kepa Arrizabalaga and the striker missed a one-on-one when scampering through on goal.
But the Cherries deserved their lead such was their intensity and tempo. Something needed to change at the break for City and Pep Guardiola called for Nico O’Reilly from his bench to play down the left.
The impact was almost immediate as the substitute drove forward and assisted the equaliser for Haaland – his 30th goal of the season.
But he would not be adding any more on the south coast after a challenge with Cook saw him turn his ankle and lead to a close encounter with an advertising hoarding.
Erling Haaland receives medical treatment after going down with an injury
His replacement Omar Marmoush took just two minutes to give City the lead, squeezing a low shot through the grasps of Kepa, who should have done better.
From then on, it was like watching the Manchester City of old under Guardiola, who strangled possession and saw the game out in confident and classy fashion. City saw out seven minutes of stoppage time before celebrating a record seventh consecutive FA Cup semi-final.
Bournemouth, who are now without a win in 90 minutes in six games, simply ran out of steam and didn’t register a single shot in the second half.
And, City remain in with a chance of salvaging a trophy from a season to forget. The prospect of them winning it again looms large.
O’Reilly will play in the semi final for sure!
Nico O’Reilly is embraced by Pep Guardiola
Man City boss Pep Guardiola speaking to ITV:
“Seven times in a row into the semi-finals of the FA Cup. I’m sorry to tell you but this is an outstanding achievement. That means this generation of players have done this for so many years. They have come to one of the toughest away places to come because of the way they play and the intensity.
“At half-time, I said to the guys, ‘you have the game in your hands even though you are not winning so keep going’, and after the impact from Nico [O’Reilly] was really, really good. Not just him but everyone, we are really pleased.
“Not just the young players performed but also the older players as well.
“Today, Bernardo Silva, Ilkay Gundogan, and Kevin De Bruyne were really good, but of course, the young players.
“Look at Nico O’Reilly; he scored two goals against Plymouth, and look, today the impact was outstanding. He will play in the semi-final for sure.”
O’Reilly sparks City back into ‘beast mode’
Sky Sports’ Lewis Jones:
If ever there was a sign that Manchester City were back to somewhere near their best in the second half, Ederson not having a thing to do was it. The Brazilian could have got on with the ironing, like the good old days, such was the lack of threat towards his goal. City strangled possession and didn’t give Bournemouth a sniff of the ball.
They only got into such a dominant position in the game thanks to the impact of O’Reilly down the left flank. An inspired piece of tactical tweaking from Guardiola to unleash the direct running and powerful youngster into space. It bamboozled the Bournemouth right flank. Lewis Cook and David Brooks looked confused to who should be marking this force of nature. His two assists will be remembered for a long time by the travelling City faithful.
That’s the thing when City are in this mood, they sap your energy by making you chase shadows which in turn takes the hope away. Bournemouth could have played long into the night and not scored such was the ruthlessness City showed in keeping the ball and seeing the game out. O’Reilly was a huge part of that.
