Manchester City completed a magnificent domestic cup double at Wembley Stadium on Saturday afternoon, lifting the FA Cup after a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Chelsea, courtesy of a stunning, improvised second-half finish from Antoine Semenyo.

In a tense and cagey affair that looked destined for extra time, the decisive moment arrived in the 72nd minute. Erling Haaland initiated the attack, holding up play before exchanging sharp passes with Bernardo Silva. The Norwegian striker then drove a low cross into the penalty area toward Semenyo, who was heavily marked by Levi Colwill. With the ball slightly behind him, the Ghana international let his natural instincts take over, producing a world-class backheel flick that diverted the ball perfectly beyond the reach of Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sánchez and into the far bottom corner.

The match-winning goal secured Manchester City’s eighth FA Cup triumph, moving them level with Chelsea, Liverpool, and Tottenham Hotspur on the competition’s all-time winners list.

The opening 45 minutes produced a high-stakes tactical chess match with very few clear-cut opportunities. Chelsea, led by rookie caretaker coach Calum McFarlane, deployed an aggressive pressing system featuring Cole Palmer, João Pedro, and Enzo Fernández to disrupt City’s fluid buildup. While Pep Guardiola’s side controlled the lion’s share of possession, they struggled to breach a resolute Blues backline marshaled by Levi Colwill.

Manchester City thought they had opened the scoring midway through the first half when Erling Haaland tapped home from a Matheus Nunes cross. However, the celebrations were short-lived as the linesman raised his flag, a decision quickly upheld by VAR after Nunes was found to have timed his run a fraction too early.

Chelsea had their own grievances right before the interval when João Pedro went down inside the penalty area following a heavy physical challenge from City defender Abdukodir Khusanov. Referee Darren England immediately waved away the furious penalty appeals, and VAR deemed the contact insufficient to overturn the on-field decision.

Shortly before the halftime whistle, Haaland nearly broke the deadlock after racing onto a through ball down the left flank, forcing Sánchez into a crucial sharp save at his near post.

Chelsea emerged from the tunnel with renewed vigor after the break and enjoyed their best spell of the match. The London side came agonizingly close to taking the lead when Moisés Caicedo met a dangerous corner with a powerful header, only to see City midfielder Rodri clear the ball off the line.

Sensing the shift in momentum, Guardiola injected creative spark into his lineup by introducing Rayan Cherki. The substitution successfully raised City’s tempo just as Chelsea seemed to be growing into the ascendancy. Moments later, Semenyo delivered his jaw-dropping piece of magic to shatter Chelsea’s resistance.

The assist marked a personal milestone for Haaland, registering his first-ever direct goal involvement at Wembley Stadium and his first contribution in a major final for Manchester City.

Chelsea attempted to respond instantly to the setback. Levi Colwill flicked on a long throw into the path of Enzo Fernández, but the Argentine midfielder could only send his close-range volley floating harmlessly over the crossbar. Desperate to find an equalizer, McFarlane threw caution to the wind by making a triple attacking substitution, introducing Pedro Neto, Liam Delap, and Alejandro Garnacho. Delap looked lively late on, but his looping header drifted just over the woodwork.

As Chelsea pushed forward, City exploited the gaps on the counter-attack. Substitute Rayan Cherki looked certain to double the advantage, but Sánchez produced an exceptional point-blank save to keep the Blues alive. Ultimately, City’s defensive unit, anchored by Marc Guéhi and Khusanov, remained composed and comfortably managed the final minutes to secure the trophy.

Speaking to BBC Sport after his iconic Wembley winner, Antoine Semenyo expressed his delight at executing such a difficult piece of skill on the biggest stage.

“A couple of times when I’ve had to improvise and it happened perfectly today. The ball was behind me and as long as I got contact on it towards the goal, I was hoping it would go in. Everything happened so fast. It’s a good finish, I can’t lie! It feels surreal. I’ve never competed for trophies like this before so it’s all new to me. It took a long time to get here but, listen, I’m grateful,” Semenyo said.

The forward also credited Guardiola for instilling immediate confidence in him upon his arrival at the club.

“The first thing Pep Guardiola said to me when I came here was, ‘Don’t change your game.’ He knows we control games a lot but he still wants me to be me – create a bit of chaos, get in behind, get shots away, dribble at defenders. That’s what I’m good at. It was the first thing he said and that gave me a bit of peace because I wasn’t sure what I was stepping into. He’s been great,” Semenyo added.

While the victory marked Pep Guardiola’s stunning 20th trophy as Manchester City manager, it proved to be an emotional afternoon for club captain Bernardo Silva. Confirming that this is his final season in Manchester, Silva described the victory as “very special” and praised Guardiola for completely changing the way he sees football.

For Chelsea, the defeat extends an incredibly painful and historically unprecedented drought in domestic cup finals. The Stamford Bridge club has now lost four consecutive FA Cup finals and an agonizing seven straight domestic finals overall. Furthermore, the Blues have failed to score a single goal in their last five major appearances across the FA Cup and EFL Cup finals.

With their silverware hopes completely extinguished for the season, Chelsea must now turn their absolute focus to the final week of the Premier League season to rescue a European qualification spot. Manchester City, meanwhile, will barely have time to celebrate as they continue their relentless pursuit of Arsenal for the Premier League title, with a crucial away fixture against Bournemouth looming on Tuesday.