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Chelsea 1-0 Manchester City: Quadruple Dream Dies

ByJ.C. Gonzalez|
LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 17: Pep Guardiola, Manager of Manchester City looks on during the Semi Final of the Emirates FA Cup match between Manchester City and Chelsea FC at Wembley Stadium on April 17, 2021 in London, England. Sporting stadiums around the UK remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Ian Walton - Pool/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 17: Pep Guardiola, Manager of Manchester City looks on during the Semi Final of the Emirates FA Cup match between Manchester City and Chelsea FC at Wembley Stadium on April 17, 2021 in London, England. Sporting stadiums around the UK remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Ian Walton - Pool/Getty Images)

For the second straight season, Manchester City have fallen to London opposition at the semi-final stage of the FA Cup. Following a shock defeat to Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal last season, City’s FA Cup redemption and dream of winning all four major trophies was dealt a death blow by Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea.

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City were hardly in the game for the first half and the first 15 minutes of the second, but in that frame, Chelsea managed to take the lead through Hakim Ziyech on a break led by Timo Werner. Zack Steffen got caught in no man’s land, allowing the Moroccan to calmly slide the ball into an empty net, but the young American quickly redeemed himself with an excellent one-on-one save to deny Ziyech a brace.

From that point, İlkay Gündoğan’s arrival onto the pitch completely turned the tide, with City looking much more dangerous, but in the end, it was too little too late. Winning the quadruple was always a far-fetched dream, but having advanced so far in all four competitions, it is an agonizing blow nevertheless. Furthermore, losing at this stage of England’s top domestic cup competition in consecutive years adds to the sting.

City must now pick themselves up. They are very close to officially sealing their third Premier League title in the last four seasons, and are in the Champions League semi-finals for the first time in the Pep Guardiola era. With a Carabao Cup final in eight days against a highly motivated Tottenham Hotspur led by José Mourinho attempting to salvage their season by ending a 13-year trophy drought. The quadruple may be over, but it’s all about response if City are to achieve what this team is fully capable of doing in 2021.