Erling Haaland (C) lifts the trophy after the English FA Cup final football match
Two down, one to go. Manchester City are now 90 minutes from a historic treble.
They needed just 12 seconds of the FA Cup final against Manchester United to take a giant stride toward their place in the record books.
Ilkay Gundogan’s opening goal on 12 seconds, the fastest in FA Cup final history, was cancelled out by a first-half Bruno Fernandes penalty, but the City’s captain’s second goal — a weak effort from outside the 18-yard box that United goalkeeper David de Gea should have saved — was enough to see off Erik ten Hag’s team for a 2-1 victory that leaves Pep Guardiola’s side needing to beat Inter Milan in next Saturday’s Champions League final to become only the second English team to do the treble.
United’s tactics boiled down to little more than hit and hope. They gave it a go, with the odd long-range effort, but that kind of approach is never going to work against this City team.
Inter will need to have a better game plan, and better players, to deny City in Istanbul next week. There already appears to be an air of inevitability about the European Cup being dressed in sky blue ribbons, though, just as the Premier League trophy and FA Cup have been this season.
“We can now talk about the treble,” Guardiola said after the match. “Of course we still have to win the Champions League, but we performed so well for our city and our fans.
“We are in a position we will probably never be in again.”