Chasing Manchester City in the Premier League, they followed up their League Cup win by defeating Chelsea 1-0 in a tense FA Cup final at Wembley.
Published May 16, 2026
Antoine Semenyo produced one of the great goals of the FA Cup final with his audacious backflick that sealed Manchester City’s 1-0 victory over Chelsea at Wembley.
Semenyo shone on Saturday, improvising a sublime finish to curl Erling Haaland’s cross into the net in a mostly rough final late in the second half.
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The Ghanaian winger’s moment of magic was enough to seal City’s eighth FA Cup win and their second silver medal of the season after beating Arsenal in the League Cup final in March.
Semenyo joins the ranks of iconic FA Cup final goalscorers alongside Ricky Villa, Michael Owen, Roberto Di Matteo and Steven Gerrard.
Ironically, the 26-year-old, an inspired signing from Bournemouth in the January window, was born just a stone’s throw from Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge home in west London.
It was the third FA Cup victory under Guardiola, ending City’s two-game losing streak in the final against Crystal Palace and Manchester United.
Guardiola also lifted trophies in 2023 and 2019, taking his tally to 20 trophies in 10 glorious years as City manager.
His attention will now turn back to City’s slim hopes of pulling off a miracle and winning 21 silver medals in the Premier League title race.
City, unbeaten in 21 domestic games, will move five points behind leaders Arsenal if the Gunners beat relegated Burnley at home on Monday.
Guardiola’s side can restore that gap to two points with a win over Bournemouth in their penultimate game of the season on Tuesday.
However, Arsenal will guarantee their first English title since 2004 if they win against Palace on May 24th.
Ahead of his 24th trip to Wembley with City, Guardiola joked that he was “very disappointed” that the home of English football does not have a stand named after him.
Whether he will return to City is still open to speculation.
Guardiola’s future has been uncertain all season, with the 55-year-old, who has only one year left on his contract, yet to give any indication whether he will stay or leave at the end of the season.
If the end of an era is near, Semenyo has ensured that Guardiola leaves with at least one more golden memory.
For Chelsea, the defeat was the latest blow in another tumultuous campaign.
They have not won in their last seven league games and are languishing in 9th place, meaning they have virtually no chance of qualifying for next season’s Champions League.
Under caretaker manager Callum McFarlane, they displayed a combative but ultimately ineffective attitude, highlighting why disgruntled fans protested to owner Bruco before kick-off, shouting “We want Chelsea back”.
Chelsea were content to settle for a deep five-man defence, and although City dominated possession for long periods of the first half, they were unable to break through.
Just like the two teams that have performed poorly this season, the match had many unstable and flat developments.
Haaland won the ball on the edge of Chelsea’s area and fired a shot from an acute angle.
The Norwegian also threatened to break open Chelsea’s well-trained rearguard late in the first half, rushing into Marc Göch’s pass and firing a stinging shot that Roberto Sanchez saved at his near post.
Chelsea, who had relied only on occasional counter-attacks, were left disappointed just before the interval when Joao Pedro was bundled in by Abdukkodir Kusanov and had a penalty claim denied.
Semenyo broke the deadlock just after the break and should have headed in Nico O’Reilly’s cross from six yards out.
Moises Caicedo’s header was nodded over the line by Rodri after City keeper James Trafford fumbled a corner kick.
However, City finally got the winning strike in the 72nd minute.
Haaland deftly penetrated the right side of the Chelsea area and passed the ball back to Semenyo, who finished superbly from close range with a deft backheel into the far corner of the goal.
