The domestic treble is still on – but only just!
Manchester City survived a scare against Championship side Southampton on Saturday, conceding a 79th-minute opener before scoring two late goals to reach their second cup final of 2025/26.
Here are our Scout Notes from Wembley.
PEP SENDS OUT THE SECOND STRING – AND SEMENYO MISSES OUT
| Team | Changes from last Prem match | Players who kept their places (+ mins) | Other players (+ mins) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Man City | 8 | Nunes (90), Cherki (90), Ait-Nouri (71) | Trafford (90), Stones (90), Ake (90), Gonzalez (90), Reijnders (85), Marmoush (71), Kovacic (58), Foden (58), Doku (32), Savinho (32), Haaland (19), O’Reilly (19), Bernardo (5) |
There weren’t too many takeaways from Saturday’s semi, as most of the regulars were rested.
Pep Guardiola effectively sent out his B team, with only three players keeping their places from the win over Burnley. Even one of those, Rayan Ait-Nouri (£5.7m), probably won’t be in the ‘first-choice XI’ when Rodri (£6.3m) is back fit.
Nico O’Reilly (£5.1m) and Erling Haaland (£14.5m) only had late cameos, while Antoine Semenyo (£8.2m) wasn’t even in the squad. We’ve heard nothing specific on the winger from Guardiola but the City boss did speak ahead of kick-off to explain his tinkering.
“I have a lot of experience, at this stage, when you play every three days, travelling. I felt an incredible loss of energy, mentally fatigued.
“The selection is top, the players are top. It’s just I want to bring the energy we need to sustain our game as high as possible.” – Pep Guardiola to BBC Sport before kick-off, as quoted by Metro Sport
Guardiola hinted that the rotation may not end there this season.
“They cannot play when this amount of games, will be every three days, three days, with the same players. Will not be possible. Have to manage good substitutions and everyone has to make a step forward.” – Pep Guardiola, speaking after the game
FODEN FLOPS, 90 MINS FOR CHERKI
Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the lack of match rhythm for the ‘reserves’, it was a bit of a slog – especially in a scrappy first half.
No one epitomised that struggle more than Phil Foden (£8.0m), who toiled as one of City’s two ’10s’ and was hooked before the hour mark. Even a switch of flanks in the first half didn’t improve his fortunes.
“A question of time. He will be back with the talent he is.” – Pep Guardiola on Phil Foden’s performance and form
Omar Marmoush (£8.3m) didn’t impress in Haaland’s stead, either, spurning a couple of decent chances.
Even the man of the moment, Rayan Cherki (£6.4m), couldn’t drag City up by their bootstraps. He had five shots but, to sum up Southampton’s defensive resilience in one stat, four of them were blocked before they could even trouble the ‘keeper.
“So tired at the end because he made a lot of effort.” – Pep Guardiola on Rayan Cherki
In the end, Guardiola sent for the cavalry with Savinho (£6.9m), Jeremy Doku (£6.4m), Haaland, O’Reilly and Bernardo Silva (£6.2m) thrown on. City turned the screw as the game went on. The in-form Doku in particular made an impact, and it was his deflected shot that restored parity after Saints had taken a shock lead.
Nico Gonzalez (£5.9m) secured victory with a thunderbolt of an effort from distance.
“Really good. I can’t complain. It’s not easy when you don’t play regularly and after playing, it’s not easy. But they were good.” – Pep Guardiola on his second string
So, what did we learn? Not a great deal, just a reminder that Guardiola very much has a favoured XI at the moment, and that few of the peripheral squad members would have done anything to shake that conviction on Saturday.
DOUBLE GAMEWEEK 36 ANNOUCEMENT AWAITED
And those City regulars will likely all return to the starting XI in Gameweek 35.
By that point, we’ll almost certainly have a confirmation of who City will play in their final Double Gameweek of the season.
Fixtures against Crystal Palace (originally in Gameweek 31) and Bournemouth (originally in Gameweek 37) will have to slot into the midweeks after Gameweeks 36 and 37, whichever way round that will be.
Is the ordering below a clue on the City website, even though dates have yet to be announced?
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