Chelsea end City’s Cup
Manchester City’s quadruple dream has been extinguished by Chelsea. Even more concerning could be the injury to Kevin De Bruyne for the ongoing pursuit of a treble.
Chelsea will be back at Wembley Stadium next month for the FA Cup final after a 1-0 victory over City was clinched by Hakim Ziyech yesterday.
Pep Guardiola will return even sooner next Monday with City for the League Cup final but with doubts over whether De Bruyne will be fit to face Tottenham.
‘‘It doesn’t look quite good,’’ Guardiola said. ‘‘But we will see tomorrow.’’
The influential Belgian playmaker hobbled off with an apparent ankle injury just as City enter a crunch period of the season.
An 11-point Premier League lead makes collecting that trophy a near-certainty but there is also a first Champions League semifinal with City for Guardiola against Paris Saint-germain in what remains the priority title for the club.
While Guardiola has been in charge almost five years at City, Thomas Tuchel has only been at Chelsea three months.
After picking up the pieces following the firing of Frank Lampard, the German now has a shot at a trophy in the FA Cup final against Leicester or Southampton next month. And like City, Chelsea remain in Champions League contention with Real Madrid awaiting in the last four.
‘‘All the ways are still open, everybody is excited by it,’’ Ziyech said. ‘‘And we cannot wait to play these games.’’
The performance against City will offer Tuchel encouragement of silverware. While Timo Werner struggles for goals, assists are less of a problem. It was his 12th of his first season at