Man City beat Chelsea with late Silva goal to make FA Cup final

Manchester City’s European rule is over — its domestic dominance is not.

Even on a day when Arsenal rose to the summit of the English Premier League with a 2-0 win against Wolves, City kept its pursuit of back-to-back domestic doubles alive by booking its place in the FA Cup final. Bernardo Silva’s late goal secured a 1-0 win against Chelsea in their semifinal on Saturday, just days after City’s Champions League defense was ended by Real Madrid.

Pep Guardiola’s team had to dig deep at Wembley, with Chelsea creating the best of the chances before Bernardo struck an 84th-minute winner.

A sweet moment for the Portuguese playmaker was even more special given he missed a penalty in the shootout loss to Madrid on Wednesday.

“(I’m) very happy after a very frustrating week for all of us, for me personally,” Bernardo said.

“The good thing is in football at Man City, you play every three days. Every three days you have the chance to put things right and now we have a chance to win another trophy.”

City hoped to become the first team to win back-toback trebles after winning the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup last season.

Without the injured Erling Haaland, it had to show character to bounce back after the disappointment of defeat to Madrid.

Chelsea had chances to take the lead, but Nicolas Jackson wasted three golden opportunities before Bernardo’s decisive moment — converting Kevin De Bruyne’s cross from the left via a deflection from Marc Cucurella.

“We conceded in a moment you should not concede,” Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino said.