- Man City win FA Cup
- Semenyo goal seals victory
- Two big names benched
Manchester City overcame Chelsea at Wembley Stadium, on what was a brilliant day for all those concerned with the club.
However, there are some players who might be feeling a bit hard done by after an interesting team selection from Pep Guardiola.
Here are three players who will feel like the winner they deservedly are, and three more who will have taken less joy from Saturday afternoon’s game.
Winners
Antoine Semenyo scored Man City’s crucial goal
Man City have been all about moments this season. We saw it in the Carabao Cup final, as Nico O’Reilly scored two goals in quick succession.
Semenyo was the hero this time around, scoring what is clearly his best goal in a sky blue shirt to date.
The winger needed to have serious confidence and skill to backheel the ball with such precision. In the end, there was no chance of Robert Sanchez making the save.
That is now two goals in two matches for Semenyo, who has well and truly ended a period of relatively poor form.
Marc Guehi was solid at the back
The fans voted Guehi as their man of the match after a display which saw him take more than 100 touches.
Guehi made nine defensive contributions during the game, as well as 12 clearances including headers.
He also won all his ground duels, contributing to Man City’s clean sheet. And now, the England international is an FA Cup winner in two consecutive seasons.
James Trafford has clean sheets in both finals
For a goalkeeper who has had issues with a lack of minutes, Trafford is really not doing all that badly at Man City.
The Englishman has started every one of City’s domestic cup matches, including the Carabao Cup and FA Cup finals.
Trafford made some vital stops against Arsenal, but he did not have too much to do on Saturday afternoon.
The 23-year-old will not mind that one bit though, as he has been able to play in yet another cup final without conceding a goal.
Losers
Rayan Cherki was a surprise omission
There were not too many surprises when Guardiola named his starting lineup, but Cherki’s exclusion was an unexpected twist.
The 22-year-old was left on the bench, despite being rested against Crystal Palace on Wednesday night.
He did get to play the second half, but to not be selected from the start suggests the midfielder is not doing enough to impress Guardiola.
Cherki was untouchable a few weeks ago, but he has had some appearances where he has not looked as sharp.
Omar Marmoush failed to seize his moment
Marmoush was the player to benefit at Cherki’s expense, but he was only given 45 minutes before receiving his marching orders.
The Egypt international was not really involved during his time on the pitch, taking only 10 touches in total.
In fairness, Marmoush scored in his two previous appearances, and City did not do a good job at getting the ball to their strikers early in the FA Cup final.
But being a squad player at Man City can be very unforgiving, and one underwhelming half can lead to an instant substitution.
Phil Foden did not play at all
When Foden came on in stoppage time during the Carabao Cup final, it was a sad sight to behold. This once great player was coming on in what almost felt like a consolation offering.
However, the 25-year-old was brilliant in midweek against Palace, registering two assists. This performance should really have put Foden in consideration to start at Wembley.
As it happened, he was named on the bench and did not play a single minute of the match, which seemed a cruel and unjust fate.
Hopefully Foden is able to respond in the Premier League, as an appearance against Bournemouth seems highly likely.
After all, Guardiola will need to rotate his squad as there will be some tired legs after the win against Chelsea.
