Bernardo Silva scored twice to help Manchester City defeat Newcastle 2-0 and advance to the FA Cup semi-finals; while Coventry scored twice in stoppage time to beat Wolves 3-2. Team. Defending champion Manchester City are still on track to regain last season’s treble of Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup as Guardiola’s side extend their unbeaten run in all competitions to 22 games. However, fate favored the English champions as both of Silva’s shots were deflected by the wrong Newcastle goalkeeper Martin Dubravka.
The Portugal international opened the scoring in the 13th minute when his shot struck Dan Burn.
Silva deflected off Sven Botman for his second goal, but Dubravka should have done better as the ball trickled under him.
At the other end, City’s first-choice goalkeeper Ederson was not missed either, with Stefan Ortega producing a fine save to deny Alexander Isak from pulling a goal back for Newcastle.
Dubravka made amends for their previous mistakes, with Jeremy Doku making a fine save around half-time to keep the score low.
But it was too little, too late for Newcastle’s title hopes this season, as the Magpies have not won a major trophy since 1969.
Manchester City is the first team to reach the FA Cup semi-finals for six consecutive seasons.
“I know we are here to win the final, but to win the final you have to win the first few rounds,” Guardiola said.
“It’s unbelievable to run and play like they did. Congratulations to the team, no one has done that before.”
Coventry rise under Robbins
In contrast, Coventry reached the semi-finals for the first time since their only win in 1987 in a five-goal thriller at Molineux.
The Sky Blues took the lead early in the second half after a controversial start from Ellis Simms after a VAR check for possible handball against the Coventry striker.
But when Wolves scored twice in the final seven minutes of the 90, the Championship side looked to have lost their chance of reaching Wembley.
Rayan Ait-Nouri latched on to a Joel Ratibaudier error to level the score before passing to fellow left-back Ugo Bueno and firing into the bottom corner. His first senior goal.
However, Sims scored his second goal of the game in the 97th minute, and three minutes later he connected with U.S. international Haji Wright to fire the ball into a corner kick.
The drama didn’t end there, with Wolves manager Gary O’Neill branding Coventry boss Mark Robins’ celebrations in the face of a teenage ball boy “disgusting”.
Robbins apologized after being angered by his caddy’s time-wasting behavior late in the match.
“I apologize to him, I don’t often show emotion but that’s what the FA Cup does to you,” Robins said.
A founding member of the Premier League, Coventry dropped from English football’s top flight to the fourth tier in the 2017/18 season.
But under Robins’ leadership, they have already been promoted twice, and last season they lost the Championship play-off final on penalties to Luton, missing out on a chance to return to the Premier League.
Wembley again awaits a chance at the top four, but Robins is realistic about his side’s chances of winning the title, with the likes of Manchester City or Liverpool potentially waiting in the semi-finals.
“Our chances are slim. We’re going to Wembley and we’re going to enjoy the game,” Robins added.
“I don’t want to go out there and just make up numbers. We’re not stupid, we know the levels have been rising.”
Liverpool will travel to Manchester United in Sunday’s quarter-finals, while Chelsea will host Leicester City.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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