Manchester City reach 7th successive FA Cup semi-final: Key stats
30 Mar 2025
Manchester City pulled off a stunning second-half comeback to beat Bournemouth 2-1 in the FA Cup quarter-final clash.
The win guarantees City's place in the semi-finals, where they will meet Nottingham Forest. Notably, this was the 7th straight season under Pep Guardiola, in which City have reached
Erling Haaland missed a penalty in the first half before Justin Kluivert scored for the Cherries.
City turned things around with goals from Haaland and Omar Marmoush to win 2-1.
City struggle despite early opportunities
Missed chances
Despite dominating possession and creating a number of opportunities, City failed to find the back of the net in the first half.
As mentioned, Haaland missed a penalty after being denied by Kepa Arrizabalaga, and later squandered a one-on-one chance.
Bournemouth's intense play and high tempo kept them in front at halftime, making it imperative for Guardiola's side to reassess their strategy during the break.
Guardiola's tactical shift sparks City's comeback
Game changer
Guardiola made a tactical change at the break, introducing Nico O'Reilly on the pitch to operate down the left.
The substitution paid off immediately as O'Reilly assisted Haaland's equalizer.
However, Haaland had to leave the field on 60 minutes due to an ankle injury.
His replacement Marmoush took just two minutes to score and hand City a 2-1 lead by slipping a low shot past Arrizabalaga.
City dominate 2nd half, Bournemouth falter
Second half
After Marmoush's goal, City put on a show that reminded of Guardiola's early days at Manchester.
They dominated the ball and played the game with confidence and flair.
Meanwhile, Bournemouth couldn't keep up and didn't even manage a single shot in the second half.
This defeat was their sixth match in a row without a win in 90 minutes.
Here are the match stats
Fact
The Cherries had two shots on target with City managing 7 of them. The visitors had 31 touches in the opposition box. Bournemouth managed 10 such touches. The hosts had 36% ball possession to City's 74.
Haaland races to 30 goals for City this season
Haaland
Haaland, who has now missed three of his last six penalties, has raced to 30 goals in all competitions for City this season from 40 matches.
He has scored 30-plus goals in each of the three campaigns for City, scoring 58 in 2022-23 and 38 in 2023-24.
Overall, he has scored 120 goals in 138 matches.
Haaland now owns 9 FA Cup goals, including one this season.
20th semi-final for Man City
Fact
Manchester City have now qualified for the FA Cup semis for the 20th time in their history. As per Opta, eight of those 20 have been achieved under Guardiola; the most by any side since his arrival in 2016-17.