Manchester City rally past Southampton to reach record fourth FA Cup final

The more revealing detail was not that Manchester City reached another Wembley final, but how they did it. One goal down with 11 minutes left, Pep Guardiola’s side recovered from a genuine scare to beat Southampton 2-1 and keep their season, and their trophy chase, on track.

Southampton had spent much of the semi-final making City work for every yard. At Wembley Stadium on April 25, 2026, the Championship side defended stubbornly, absorbed pressure and then broke through in the 79th minute when Finn Azaz scored from long range, briefly putting one of England’s richest and most accomplished clubs on the edge of a shock exit.

City answered almost immediately. Jeremy Doku equalized in the 82nd minute with a shot from the edge of the area that took a deflection on its way in, and Nico Gonzalez completed the turnaround five minutes later in the 87th minute. The late swing was so swift that Southampton scarcely had time to regroup before City had seized control of the tie.

The result carried historic weight. City became the first club ever to reach four consecutive FA Cup finals, a record the Football Association recognized after the match. It also preserved City’s hopes of a domestic treble, a target that depends on staying sharp deep into the league and cup run-in. City will now meet Chelsea or Leeds in the final.

Southampton’s run had already made an impression. On April 4, 2026, they beat Arsenal 2-1 in the quarter-finals at St Mary’s Stadium, with Shea Charles scoring the late winner in the 85th minute. That upset carried them to Wembley, where they came within minutes of another giant-killing before City’s quality told.

Guardiola described the response as “extraordinary,” and the word fits not just the scoreline but the way City managed the pressure. The performance was not flawless, and Southampton’s resistance exposed moments of vulnerability, but City still found the width, control and individual execution to recover when the match was slipping away. In a knockout competition where margins are thin, that kind of response can matter as much as any polished display.

City’s winner was also noted as one of the latest in an FA Cup semi-final in recent years, a reminder of how close the upset came to becoming one of the competition’s defining shocks. Instead, City leave Wembley with another final secured and another argument for why, even when they are pushed hard, they remain the side most able to bend a difficult game back to their will.