Pep Guardiola has never lost an FA Cup home tie and the Catalan, serving a touchline ban, will have enjoyed the view from the stand as Man City booked yet another trip to Wembley two weeks after lifting the Carabao Cup with a big win over Liverpool.
“It’s special,” Guardiola’s assistant Pep Lijnders said. “It’s a sign of consistency and quality that the team reaches every year.
“The FA Cup is so, so special, we all know this. But especially for the fans having the chance to travel again and have a nice day with the family, the kids, all the passion around it.
“It’s a special place, Wembley, and you should not take for granted every time a final or semi-final and for sure we don’t do that.”
Erling Haaland had scored only once since the 3-0 win over Fulham on February 11, but was in deadly form here, sending Giorgi Mamardashvili the wrong way from the spot after Nico O’Reilly was fouled, then heading in Semenyo’s cross for a second and crashing in a shot off the crossbar for his hat-trick.
“I’ve worked with a lot of good strikers who have scored a lot of goals, reached a lot of finals and won a lot of trophies,” Lijnders said.
“For Erling it was his 12th hat-trick today for Manchester City. The second goal was insane, the way he flies and still puts the ball to the corner. I love these old-school striker goals. I love it.”
