City Watch: Blues march on to Wembley once again

Following the return of club football following the international break and their victory in the Carabao Cup Final against Arsenal, Manchester City faced Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter finals.

Just one win from yet another Wembley trip under Pep, the fierce old rivalry between the Blues and the Reds was set to be reignited once more. 

For two players from each side, it was much more than that too. 

I’ll write a little more on this later on, but Bernardo Silva announced that he would be leaving the club when his contract expires at the end of the season, with Mohammed Salah also exiting Liverpool following the conclusion of this campaign. 

The longer time goes on, the more it feels like it’s the end of what was an incredible era. 

Both Salah and Bernardo were part of the ruthless teams under Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp, and more of those players who were part of those nail biting title races are moving on, so it felt only right that we played the Merseyside club one more time before they left.

Liverpool haven’t had the best campaign after winning the title under Slot last season. Out of the title race, fighting for European football next season and with PSG coming up in the Champions League, this felt like a crucial game for them.

City, however, didn’t let this get to them. Pep’s side always seem to come into form towards the end of the season, and it looks like the ruthless team of old is back. 

The Blues didn’t just beat Slot’s side, they made them look like a Championship team.

The first 15 minutes were fairly even, both teams with good chances not taken. However, a foul by Van Dijk on O’Reilly handed Erling Haaland a chance to score from the spot, which of course, he took.

Erling went on to score just before half time from a fantastic cross delivered by Antoine Semenyo to lead 2-0 at the break. 

The Ghanaian went from creator to scorer just five minutes into the second period, chipping the ball over a helpless Mamardashvili to take the game firmly away from Liverpool and hand City another Wembley trip. 

That wasn’t enough for us though, as Haaland completed his hat trick just seven minutes later.

I was saying it was nice for Salah to have one more game against us, well his first game at the Etihad ended 5-0, and his final game in Manchester wasn’t much better, 4-0 when the final whistle went.

All this meant the Blues will play in the capital in another semi final, eight in a row to be specific in Pep’s 23rd trip to Wembley in his decade in charge. 

Greatest of all time debates will go on long after the Spaniard’s gone, but you have to admit, that’s a pretty impressive record.

Southampton will be the team the Blues face in London, which may look like a good draw on the surface, until you remember that they’re the team that knocked out the current league leaders, Arsenal…

The semi-final talk can wait until the end of the month, for now, I want to talk about Bernardo Silva. 

It feels like it’s been rumoured that Silva would leave the Etihad every year for the past five seasons, but I think a lot of City fans would admit that it felt different this campaign, and it felt like it would be his last.

Nine years at the Etihad, and I don’t say this lightly, but I truly believe he’s been the most consistent player under Pep in that time. 

If he features in every game before the end of the season, he will equal Colin Bell’s appearance record in a City shirt, and I don’t need to convince anyone about that man’s City legacy.

For me, he may not have lit up the goals or assists charts every game, but his worth is much more than that. 

I don’t remember him ever being injured, which is surprising considering if you looked at how much each player has run in a game, the Portuguese player was consistently at the top.

He will be a huge miss, not just on the pitch, but he’s got to be one of the most likeable players in the team. 

I’m sure he’ll receive a proper send off come the end of the season, but until then, all I can be is thankful for all he’s done in his nine years at the club.

The Premier League continues this weekend with a trip to Stamford Bridge. 

Nine points is the gap, one game in hand over the Gunners, oh, one more thing, our next match after Chelsea? Arsenal at the Etihad…