Pep Guardiola promised Nico O'Reilly a FA Cup semi -final performance after the excellent cameo of the Manchester City against Bournemouth.
O'Rilly came from the bank to set both goals of the city in a 2-1 comeback victory in Sunday's quarterfinals in the Vitality Stadium.
The 20-year-old is the first city player to offer two assists as a replacement since Ilkay Gundogan did this against Leeds United in December 2021.
Meanwhile, City is now in the FA Cup-Halve final for a seventh straight campaign. They will be confronted at Nottingham Forest in Wembley at the end of April.
And O'Reilly will certainly prevent.
Guardiola told ITV Sport: “Nico scored two goals against Plymouth and the impact today was excellent.
“He will definitely play in the semi -final!”
20 – Manchester City has qualified for the FA Cup and half final for the 20th time in their history. Eight of those 20 have been reached under Pep Guardiola; The most on every side since his arrival in 2016-17. To fight. pic.twitter.com/k2lzxpswil
– Optajoe (@Optajoe) March 30, 2025
O'Reilly was directly involved in five goals in four FA Cup performances this season (three goals, two assists), the joint-mast by a Premier League player in the competition in 2024-25, level with Jack Clarke from Ipswich Town.
“My instructions were to participate as much as possible,” O'Reilly told BBC Sport. “It was good to get the contributions with the two assists – I buzzed.
“I am grateful for the opportunities I get from the manager and play with the best players there are.”
Prior to the game, Guardiola was blamed for the overwhelming season of his team, and said that the victory in the FA Cup would not make it a good campaign.
However, he wanted to emphasize that reaching seven consecutive FA Cup semi -final is an extraordinary performance.
“We did it. Seven times in a row reached the semi -final in the FA Cup,” he said.
“I am sorry to tell you, but this is excellent. This generation of players have done this.
“To get here, one of the most difficult road that is still coming.”
5 – Manchester City limited Bournemouth to only five shot attempts; The Joint-Fewest for the cherries in a match under Andoni Iraola, and with both agencies that meet Man City (November 2023 and today). Neutralized.
– Optajoe (@Optajoe) March 30, 2025
Guardiola said that his team was “on vacation” when they lost Bournemouth in the Premier League in the Premier League in November, but despite the early penalty -Miss van Erling Haaland, followed by Evanilson who was at the front of the Sunday, City was well under control for a large part of the draw.
They ended with 17 shots and 3.43 expected goals to the five attempts of Bournemouth and 1.67 xg, with the majority of that good by Evanilson's finish in an empty net.
Guardiola spoke with BBC Sport: “We have already won one title. We have won the Shield community.
“This season has been bad, nothing will change. It has not been good, that will not change.
“Last year we played in a final and could not win. We have an incredible target to qualify for the Champions League next season and that is what we are going to try to do.”
Bournemouth -Baas Andoni Iraola claimed that the cherries were not on the races after the break.
“I think the game is pretty clear to analyze – the first half was good of us,” he said BBC Sport.
“We played the game we had to play, but we couldn't keep it for the second half.
“Then we have not been the team that we wanted to be. The players started missing energy.”
Comments