City is through to the FA Cup semi-final after a 4-1 win over Southampton. Sterling slotted the visitors ahead minutes after Adam Armstrong hit the post for Southampton.
Gundogan also hit the woodwork before Elyounoussi’s cross deflected off Laporte into the back of his net on the stroke of half-time.
After the break, Jesus won a penalty, which De Bruyne just fired under Forster. Foden and Mahrez came off the bench to wrap it up; Foden rifled his effort past the keeper before Mahrez rolled in the fourth just minutes later.
Starting Lineup:
SOUTHAMPTON STARTING XI (4-4-2): Fraser Forster;
Kyle Walker-Peters, Jack Stephens, Mohammed Salisu, Valentino Livramento;
Stuart Armstrong, Oriol Romeu, James Ward-Prowse, Mohamed Elyounoussi;
Shane Long, Adam Armstrong.
SOUTHAMPTON SUBS: Ibrahima Diallo, Armando Broja, William Smallbone, Yan Valery,
Nathan Redmond, Willy Caballero, Che Adams, Moussa Djenepo, Romain Perraud.
MANCHESTER CITY STARTING XI (4-3-3): Zack Steffen;
Kyle Walker, John Stones, Aymeric Laporte, Joao Cancelo;
Kevin De Bruyne, Rodrigo, Ilkay Gundogan;
Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus, Jack Grealish.
MANCHESTER CITY SUBS: Nathan Ake, Carson, Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Fernandinho.
Goals:
STERLING SCORES! It’s switched from left to right by City, and Stephens makes a mess of clearing Jesus’ cross. The Brazilian reacts quickly and touches the loose ball to Sterling in the middle of the box. Forster rushes out, but Sterling coolly slots it in. 1-0 City.
SOUTHAMPTON EQUALISE! It’s an excellent through ball from Stuart Armstrong to play in Elyounoussi, who times his run perfectly. Steffen comes off his line to force him wide, so he tries to pull it back across goal instead. It hits Laporte, which takes it bouncing over the line. City, look for an offside flag that doesn’t come, and it’s 1-1.
DE BRUYNE SCORES! He takes a short run-up to the spot and fires it low into the bottom left corner. Forster dives the right way and is so close to getting a hand to it, but the ball rolls under him and into the back of the net. 2-1 City.
FODEN SCORES! It’s played between a triangle of City players down the right trying to open up Southampton and Salisu blocks de Bruyne’s chipped pass. However, Foden is in the right place to nick it off him, and he brings it down before rifling an effort past Forster and into the back of the net. 3-1 City.
MAHREZ SCORES! It’s a lovely cross from Cancelo with the outside of his boot again to get it into Gundogan, and he squares it to Mahrez on the right of the box. He knocks it around Salisu before slotting the ball low into the bottom corner, giving Forster no chance. 4-1 City.
So, what’s next?
City’s name goes into the hat for the semi-final draw along with Chelsea and Crystal Palace, and they’ll find out shortly who they’ll be facing at Wembley in just under a month.
After the international break, they’ll travel to Burnley in the Premier League. Southampton has lost four on the bounce, and their attention turns back to the league. They face Leeds United in two weeks.
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