Chelsea laid to waste Manchester City's dream of securing a quadruple this season by defeating them in Saturday's FA Cup semi-final encounter. The Blues secured a narrow 1-0 win thanks to Hakim Ziyech's 55th-minute strike inside Wembley.
Man City, who sit atop the Premier League table, have already progressed to the final of the EFL Cup and are set for a semi-final clash with Paris Saint-Germain in this season's UEFA Champions League. Prior to the weekend's meeting with Chelsea, the Citizens were optimistic about getting close to winning a quadruple this season, a feat they had never managed before in their history.
Following a rather tense first half, the deadlock was finally broken by Chelsea after Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech combined in a blistering counter-attack. Before that, the Blues had seen a goal by the Moroccan being ruled for offside. Despite persisting in attack, Pep Guardiola's men failed to manage a response as they agonisingly crashed out of the domestic cup. The deficit would have been increased to two had Christian Pulisic not been denied by another offside call.
HAKIM ZIYECH STRIKES #EmiratesFACup @ChelseaFC pic.twitter.com/vRv1D8gUy9
— Emirates FA Cup (@EmiratesFACup) April 17, 2021
In essence, the result saw Thomas Tuchel become the first-ever German manager to reach the FA Cup final while Chelsea reached the FA Cup final for the fourth time in the last five seasons. In the history of English top-flight football, only Arsenal (21) and Manchester United (20) have reached the competition's final on more occasions than the Stamford Bridge outfit.