Mahrez treble fires Man City into FA Cup final
Riyad Mahrez fired Manchester City into the FA Cup final as the Algerian's hat-trick sealed a 3-0 win against Sheffield United at Wembley on Saturday. Mahrez's superb display dispatched the Championship underdogs, ensuring City ended their run of three successive FA Cup semi-final defeats. The 32-year-old shattered United's resistance with a penalty late in the first half and completed his treble with two clinical finishes after the interval. City's opponents in the Wembley final on June 3 will be the winners of Sunday's semi-final between Manchester United and Brighton. Pep Guardiola's side are back in the final for the first time since 2019, when they won the FA Cup for the only time in the Spaniard's reign. They have reached the final without conceding a single goal in this season's tournament. City have won 11 of their last 12 games in all competitions and remain on course to win a memorable treble as they chase Arsenal in the Premier League and face a Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid. The English champions received a welcome boost on Friday when Premier League leaders Arsenal were held to a 3-3 draw by bottom of the table Southampton. That result left second placed City five points behind Arsenal, but with two games in hand ahead of their crucial clash against the Gunners in Manchester on Wednesday. With the Arsenal match in mind, Guardiola made six changes from the side that drew at Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-final second leg on Wednesday. Ederson was replaced by Stefan Ortega in goal, while Ruben Dias, John Stones, Rodri, Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden were left on the bench. Although City are in peak form and United are one win away from promotion back to the Premier League, there were a surprising number of empty seats in the 69,603 crowd. It was a reminder that the FA's decision to play the semi-finals in London can be an expensive inconvenience to fans outside the capital. Many would prefer a return to the days when Villa Park and Old Trafford were among a select group of club stadiums that regularly staged the semi-finals. (AFP)