Pep Guardiola’s gamble on his squad players backfired in spectacular style as Liverpool ended his side's Treble dream at Wembley. But if Manchester City bounce back with league wins over Brighton, on Wednesday, and Watford next weekend, it will have been a risk worth taking.
And after a spirited second-half revival that turned the Liverpool end of Wembley from a gleeful, triumphant mass into a mess of nerves, they restored their pride and set themselves up for another surging challenge in the Premier League and Champions League. They were undone by a dreadful first-half performance that hinged on a goalkeeping error from which there seemed to be no comeback.
The City manager said on the eve of this FA Cup semi-final that he was considering abandoning his usual policy of playing Zack Steffen in cup games. After the USA international’s brain freeze handed Sadio Mane the first of his two first-half goals, he probably wished he had gone with his instinct.
