City survive, United knocked out
Manchester City’s quest for a quadruple is still on thanks to a bit of luck and some help from the referee while Wolverhampton Wanderers beat Manchester United to reach the FA Cup semifinals for the first time since 1998.
City came from two goals down to beat second-tier Swansea City 3-2 in the quarterfinals yesterday, but it was a comeback that benefited from two refereeing mistakes.
The visitors to Liberty Stadium were incorrectly awarded a penalty that led to the equaliser before Sergio Aguero scored the winner from an offside position to end Swansea’s hopes of a massive upset.
Adding to City’s good fortune was the fact the equaliser had only gone in after the ball bounced off goalkeeper Kristoffer Nordfeldt.
It made for one of City’s least impressive wins of the season but kept coach Pep Guardiola on track for a possible four titles. His team have already won the League Cup, lead the way in the Premier League and are into the Champions League quarterfinals.
Matt Grimes gave Swansea the lead from the penalty spot in the 20th minute. Bersant Celina then doubled the lead by finishing off a sublime move with a curling firsttime finish into the corner in the 29th.
Guardiola’s team still found a way back into the game in the 69th when Aguero had a shot blocked before playing the ball out to Bernardo Silva, who rifled a shot with the outside of his boot into the corner.
City continued to pressure Swansea and the penalty came when Cameron Carter-Vickers was adjudged to have fouled Raheem Sterling in the box – even though replays clearly showed he got the ball.
Aguero’s spot kick then hit the post before the ball went in off the luckless Nordfeldt.
The Argentina striker then netted the winner in the 88th with a header. However, replays showed he was offside when the cross was delivered – highlighting the absence of video reviews for the game.
At Wolves’ Molineux Stadium, Raul Jimenez broke the deadlock in the 70th minute and Diogo Jota doubled the lead in the 76th minute.
United were able to score only a late consolation through Marcus Rashford during the fifth minute of added time.
Earlier yesterday, Watford reached the last four after substitute Andre Gray scored two minutes after coming off the bench to secure a 2-1 home victory over Crystal Palace. The last quarterfinal saw Millwall host Brighton overnight.
Meanwhile, Huddersfield’s hopes of staving off Premier League relegation are all but over after the bottom of the table club gave up a two-goal lead to lose 4-3 at West Ham.
Seventeenth-placed Burnley put themselves in danger of going down when Kiwi Chris Wood’s side couldn’t convert a one-man advantage against visitors Leicester City, who had defender Harry Maguire sent off after just four minutes. The hosts went down 2-1 after conceding a lastminute goal to Wes Morgan, leaving them just two points out of the drop zone.
In the weekend’s other league match, Newcastle winger Matt Ritchie scored a stoppage-time equaliser against his former club to secure a 2-2 draw at Bournemouth.