Second-tier side sings the sky blues as it joins City in semis
Coventry into last four of FA Cup after 37-year wait, as Manchester downs Magpies
Manchester City is banking on Wembley Stadium being a key staging post in its pursuit of a second straight treble of major trophies.
One of a possible three late-season trips to English soccer’s national stadium was booked when City reached the semifinals of the FA Cup on Saturday.
If that came as no real surprise, second-tier Coventry’s progress to the last four certainly did.
City ousted Newcastle from the competition with a 2-0 victory, secured by two deflected shots from Bernardo Silva in the first half.
The day’s real drama, however, came a few hours earlier at Molineux as Coventry scored two goals deep into stoppage time to beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-2 and reach the semifinals for the first time since 1987 — when the team went on to win the FA Cup.
United States striker Haji Wright completed the remarkable comeback in the 10th minute of injury time, three minutes after Ellis Simms — with his second goal of the game — equalized for Coventry.
Sitting in eighth place in the Championship, Coventry was the lowest-ranked team to get to the quarterfinals. The club from central England has endured a turbulent and financially rocky couple of decades since relegation from the Premier League in 2001, but can look forward to another trip to Wembley, where it lost the Championship playoff final to Luton at the end of last season.
It also gives Mark Robins, Coventry’s manager, another magical FA Cup moment. Robins likely saved Alex Ferguson from getting fired three years into his storied tenure as Manchester United manager by scoring the winner in an FA Cup third-round match against Nottingham Forest midway through the 1989-90 season, when Ferguson was under severe pressure.
That is widely heralded as a turning point in Ferguson’s trophy-laden tenure that lasted nearly 27 years.
For many, City manager Pep Guardiola ranks just as high as Ferguson, and back-to-back Premier League-Champions League-FA Cup trebles would surely put him in a class of his own.
To do that, City would have to return to Wembley two more times this season — for the FA Cup final on May 25 and the title match in the Champions League, which is also being held at the famed London venue a week later.
City is the first side to ever reach the FA Cup semifinals in six consecutive seasons.
“I know we play to win the finals, but to win it, you have to win the earlier rounds,” said Guardiola.
“To run and play the way they did is incredible. Congratulations to the team, no one has done that before.”
Pragmatic Postecoglou
Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou said he is more interested in building a competitive team than finishing in the top four of the Premier League, after his side was beaten 3-0 by Fulham on Saturday.
A win would have moved Tottenham above Aston Villa into fourth place in the standings, but the defeat ensured Postecoglou’s side remains fifth with 53 points from 28 games.
Asked if Tottenham could still finish fourth and secure the final Champions League qualifying spot, the Australian told reporters: “I don’t see fourth as the prize. I don’t want to finish fourth if we haven’t grown and developed as a team.
“Part of the narrative is to push you in these kinds of positions where you think that fourth is some kind of achievement that gives you something for next year.
“Fourth would be great if I feel like we’re growing as a team, and we’re creating something that is going to bring us success next year. But fourth is not our goal ... If we finish fifth, and if I think we’ve got a team to challenge next year, then I won’t be disappointed.”
Tottenham’s next league game sees the North London side host 18thplaced Luton Town on Saturday.
Battle at the bottom
Elsewhere in the Premier League, Burnley boosted its unlikely hopes of staying up with a first win in 2024, while fellow relegation candidates Luton and Nottingham Forest drew 1-1.
Next-to-last Burnley beat 10-man Brentford 2-1 to end an 11-game win drought across all competitions and move eight points adrift of safety in its bid to avoid an immediate return to the Championship.
Jacob Bruun Larsen converted a 10th-minute penalty, awarded after a push by Brentford left back Sergio Reguilon, who was sent off for the offense because he was the last man. David Datro Fofana added a second before Kristoffer Ajer reduced the deficit in the 83rd to ensure a nervy finish at Turf Moor.
Forest stayed three points above Luton, which is third-to-last and occupying the final relegation spot, after seeing its 34th-minute opener, a volley by Chris Wood, canceled out by substitute Luke Berry.
Forest will not be sitting too comfortably, because it could be hit with a points deduction in the coming weeks for overspending.