Second-half goals from Erling Haaland and Omar Marmoush saw Manchester City win 2-1 at Bournemouth to reach the semi-finals of 2024-25 FA Cup.
Marmoush netted a 63rd minute winner after he pounced on Nico O’Reilly’s 63rd-minute pass from the latter’s interception of Illya Zabarnyi to complete City’s comeback and secured a seventh consecutive semi-final appearance in this competition.
Erling Haaland had equalised for City with a 49th-minute strike from O’Reilly’s diagonal pass on a counter-attack, after Evanilson had bundled Bournemouth ahead in the 21st minute from Justin Kluivert’s cutback pass.
Man City will now meet Nottingham Forest in the semi-finals, whilst Aston Villa face Crystal Palace in the other semi-final with both ties set to be played across 26-27 April.
O’Reilly post-match spoke to ITV of his desire to just keep getting first-team chances and help the club fight for the title.
“I am just trying my hardest every game and trying to help the team out as much as I can and I’m glad I’ve been able to do that so far.”
Having won just one of their 22 previous meetings against Man City in all competitions which coincidentally came in their league clash earlier this season at home, Bournemouth enjoyed an electric start to this first FA Cup tie between the pair which forced City to concede a few set-pieces in the opening ten minutes.
Man City however showed their quality with a 12th-minute attack which saw Bernardo Silva’s cross unintentionally blocked by the right arm of Tyler Adams, which led referee – Stuart Attwell to award a penalty against Bournemouth.
Erling Haaland stepped up and fired towards the bottom-right corner but Bournemouth’s blushes were spared as Kepa Arrizabalaga dived correctly to his left to make a crucial save.
Arrizabalaga again denied Haaland just four minutes later with an outcoming block which forced the Norwegian to hastily rifle over the bar.
Bournemouth though looked the more energetic and got their reward through David Brooks’ cross to the left post which Kluivert could only knock back across goal, with Evanilson the first to get a touch and bundled the ball into the net to give the Cherries the opening goal.
City continued to be frustrated as Arrizabalaga saved llkay Gundogan’s low 23rd-minute shot towards the left corner, whilst Haaland nodded wide in the 31st minute as the Cityzens struggled to break down Bournemouth’s resilient defence before half-time.
Pep Guardiola consequently opted to substitute Abdukodir Khusanov for O’Reilly at half-time in an inspired move, as he teed up Haaland to smash in from his diagonal pass in the 49th minute – having met Kevin De Bruyne’s initial pass on a rapid counter-attack from an interception on Bournemouth’s right flank.
City were handed a scare in the 56th minute after Haaland was sent tumbling into the AstroTurf surrounding the pitch in a collision with Lewis Cook, which ultimately saw the Norwegian substituted just past the hour mark with a right-knee injury despite initially attempting to continue.
His substitution however didn’t faze City as O’Reilly once again proved key to their comeback with a 63rd minute interception of Zabarnyi, from which he teed up Marmoush to fire in from close-range to turn the tie around.
Marmoush almost added a second goal to his name in the 66th minute from Matheus Nunes’ cross but his header was blocked, before De Bruyne fired over via deflection on the rebound.
City ultimately dug deep to protect their lead and reach the semi-finals where Forest will await at Wembley Stadium.
What’s Next?
Bournemouth resume their push for a top-four Premier League finish with their third home game on the bounce in all competitions, as the Cherries host relegation-battling Ipswich on Wednesday 2 April at 7:45pm BST.
Man City will also return to league action at the same time as they host Leicester at the Etihad Stadium.
Teams
Bournemouth: Kepa Arrizabalaga, Lewis Cook, Illya Zabarnyi, Marcos Senesi (Jebbison 85′), Julio Soler (Hill 57′), Ryan Christie (Smith 73′), Tyler Adams, David Brooks (Ouattara 57′), Justin Kluivert, Antoine Semenyo, Evanilson (Scott 73′)
Substitutes: Matai Akinmboni, Will Dennis, James Hill, Daniel Jebbison, Dango Ouattara, Alex Scott, Zain Silcott-Duberry, Adam Smith, Ben Winterburn
Man City: Ederson, Matheus Nunes, Abdukodir Khusanov (O’Reilly 46′), Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol. Mateo Kovacic (Gonzalez 83′), Ilkay Gundogan (McAtee 83′), Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden (Grealish 69′), Erling Haaland (Marmoush 61′)
Substitutes: Jeremy Doku, Nico Gonzalez, Jack Grealish, Rico Lewis, Omar Marmoush, James McAtee, Nico O’Reilly, Stefan Ortega, Vitor Reis
Referee – Stuart Attwell
