Manchester City beat Chelsea on Saturday to win the FA Cup for the eighth time, with Pep Guardiola lifting his 20th trophy with the club after a final decided by one moment of quality. The victory kept City in the race for the Premier League title and added another major prize to a spell of sustained success under the Spaniard.
Chelsea manager Calum McFarlane said the match felt even from start to finish, and that his side had gone toe-to-toe with City. “It's a weird one but I'm proud of the performance. I thought it was a really even game,” he said. “We had moments where we were the better team and they had moments where they were the better team and the game was decided by one moment of quality.” He added that Chelsea had similar chances and felt they should have had a penalty for Jorrel Hato, calling it clear on another day.
Reece James echoed that view, saying Chelsea had not been far away despite the result. “I mean disappointing obviously, to lose. Not much in the game. It was pretty even. They had one half chance, and they managed to take it,” he said. James added that the club had “lost a fair few games recently” and that “every time we step out onto the pitch the target is to win.”
For City, the trophy was another sign that Guardiola’s work remains central to the club’s identity after 10 years in charge. For Chelsea, the performance was enough to show they could live with one of the strongest sides in the country, but not enough to turn that into silverware. The frustration was not only the defeat itself, but the sense that the final turned on a single moment after long stretches in which neither side gave much away.
The result leaves City with one more title in the cabinet and more to play for before the season ends, while Chelsea are left with the familiar demand for stability that James said the team needs. The gap between a credible performance and a winning one was narrow at Wembley, and City were the side that found the one half chance that mattered.
