Mahrez maxes out the middle
Hat-trick hero Riyad Mahrez is known for his arrow-like work on the right wing but both of his open-play goals against Sheffield United in Saturday's FA Cup semi-final came from right in front.
His drive through the middle was helped by the defence’s reluctance to tackle but once through, he made no mistake. His run into the centre of the box for the third was top-class.
In contrast, his effort when cutting in from the right in the first half never troubled the Blades' goal. Mahrez has 15 goals this season and perhaps could get more if he makes more runs to the centre.
READ MORE: City player ratings vs Sheffield United
Ample rest ahead of Arsenal
The game was wrapped up just after the hour mark when Mahrez fired in his second and Guardiola was giving instructions to oncoming substitutions by the time he found his third five minutes later.
John Stones, Rodri, Ederson, Ruben Dias and Kevin De Bruyne were not used at all at Wembley and will have had a full week of rest ahead of Wednesday’s potential title decider with Arsenal.
Haaland came off 68 minutes with Jack Grealish trotting off at the same time. Lots of energy in the legs for midweek, unlike the Gunners after their breathless 3-3 draw with Southampton on Friday.
Clumsy crossing
City’s crossing during the 90 minutes was quite poor, including from set-pieces. It was obvious the Blues were trying to find Haaland but Sheffield United were never truly bothered by the lofted balls in.
The Blues put in 11 corners yet the most dangerous in the match came from their opponents, who saw Iliman Ndiaye’s close-range effort saved by Stefan Ortega within 120 seconds. The first time City mixed up their crosses, Grealish played a low ball in for Mahrez’s third goal.
Clean sheet confidence
Pep Guardiola will be buoyed by his much-changed backline keeping a clean sheet, especially after United’s early chance. Ortega came up trumps in that moment while Sergio Gomez can put the feat on his City CV, even if his second-half miskick almost gifted the opponents a consolation.
He and Kyle Walker did more attacking than defending in fairness, but Aymeric Laporte managed to quell the pace of Ndiaye and Daniel Jebbison. City have now scored 17 goals in their FA Cup run and conceded none.
Depth of squad depicted
City’s core strength is outstanding but fans also saw the impact of fringe players at Wembley on Saturday. Cole Palmer offered bursts of threat when he came on while Rico Lewis enjoyed a Wembley outing at just 18 years old.
Kalvin Phillips didn’t do anything outstanding during his cameo while starter Gomez was hardly tested defensively.
All did OK but none would have given Guardiola anything to think about, which is a shame for them given there was still time to impact the game with Sheffield United open towards the end.
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