How Man City won the FA Cup

An all-Manchester cup final took to our screens for the very first time, and Pep Guardiola's imperious City side picked up their second piece of silverware this campaign, though they will want to collect another next weekend.

Guardiola and Erik ten Hag locked horns once again, though the former outwitted, outclassed and outsmarted the latter this time around in their chase of an incredibly impressive treble.

Ilkay Gundogan provided viewers a shock to the system as his instinctive goal-bound volley ended up rifling past David de Gea and saw him become the fastest scorer in FA Cup final history.

A lifeline was then handed to those of a United persuasion after Paul Tierney - controversially or not - awarded a penalty to Ten Hag's men as Jack Grealish - intentionally or not - handled the ball. Bruno Fernandes stepped up and acutely dispatched from 12 yards to regain some confidence that the unthinkable was still on.

Six minutes after the interval was when City's captain bagged his second of the afternoon, which left their cross-town opponents throwing the kitchen sink at the rest of the encounter to no avail.

City's resounding win at Wembley is another step in the right direction as they are eager to match the other FA Cup finalists in achieving the feat of the treble.

Manchester City's route to the final

Guardiola's men, incredibly, did not concede a single goal from open play in their 2022/23 FA Cup campaign.

Their pursuit of the FA Cup began early in 2023 when they faced a turgid, Graham Potter-led Chelsea outfit. Goals, including two penalties, came courtesy of Julian Alvarez and Riyad Mahrez. The gifted Algerian was at the double on the day and his 85th-minute spot kick really hammered home the stark difference between the two clubs this season.

Up next was a contest against Premier League title rivals Arsenal. Defender-turned-scorer Nathan Ake provided the difference on a cold Friday evening as Mikel Arteta's men were dumped out of the cup.

A rotated Man City side still had ample firepower to dismiss Championship side Bristol City, with Phil Foden's double married up with Kevin De Bruyne's second-half effort in a 3-0 win at Ashton Gate.

Man City legend Vincent Kompany, now managing Burnley, had a chance to one-up his former coach in the following round. However, Erling Haaland was back involved in the cup and that only meant one thing: goals. The Norwegian's hat-trick, plus a double from Alvarez and one from Cole Palmer, saw the Clarets ship six on Kompany's return to the Etihad Stadium.

Man City were then dealt another relatively easy fixture on paper in the semi-finals. Sheffield United had made it to the last four having beaten Tottenham en route and were eager to not lay down at the hands of Guardiola and co. However, Mahrez's emphatic trio of goals hindered any dying hopes of another upset.

The big one then came at the beginning of June with an all-Manchester final comprised of a resurgent United and an all-conquering City. The battle of wits was won by Guardiola on this occasion, however, as Gundogan's double drowned out Fernandes' controversially-given penalty in the 33rd minute.

Top scorers

While many assumed Haaland would spearhead this list, he scarcely featured on this run. In turn, Alvarez has often starred as Man City's leading man up top and has equalled his fellow forward's goal tally in the competition.

Haaland obviously retained his spot at the top of the tree for the final, but he was unable to better his three-goal tally as his teammate Gundogan stole the goalscoring show.

Foden has also been among the goals throughout, boosted by his double against Bristol City.

But it was Mahrez who converted the most chances throughout the competition, with his semi-final hat-trick against Sheffield United helping propel him to the top of the list.

Top assisters

Alvarez and Foden are also two names prominent on the list of top assisters for Man City in their FA Cup campaign, showing their versatility in front of goal includes creating them as well as finding the back of the net.

As expected, Belgian magician De Bruyne is at the top of the list, notching a club-high four assists throughout their run to silverware. His two he registered in the final were, undoubtedly, the most influential in their triumph, and assisting his midfield companion Gundogan was the icing on the cake.

Jack Grealish, however, followed closely behind on two assists.