LONDON: The “impossible” quadruple dream remains intact for Manchester City after an early headed goal from Gabriel Jesus sealed a scrappy 1-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday to put them into the FA Cup final. Jesus launched himself into the air to connect decisively in the third minute but City never hit top gear and they rather laboured to victory in an instantly forgettable match. Nevertheless, after bagging the League Cup, being locked in a titanic battle with Liverpool for the Premier League title and in the Champions League quarter-finals, Pep Guardiola’s side remain on course for an unprecedented clean sweep. It was a tired-looking display against Premier League relegation battlers Brighton, though, and City will need to rediscover their spark ahead of Tuesday’s trip to Tottenham Hotspur in the first leg of their Champions League last-eight tie. Guardiola was quick to play down the “Q” word. “My opinion is that nobody has done it (won the quadruple) so why can we do it?,” Guardiola said. “It is almost impossible to achieve everything, that is the truth. Our fans will come, more than today, for the final, we are losing players every game but still we will try to do it. I am happy to be in the final, we extend our season by one more week and we are happy for that.” Back at Wembley where they beat Chelsea on penalties to win the League Cup in February, City were huge favourites to get past a Brighton side with other things on their mind. Whatever plan Brighton boss Chris Hughton had cooked up to stop a City side who had won 20 of their last 22 matches in all competitions was in tatters after only three minutes.
Quadruple still on as Jesus heads Manchester City into FA Cup final
Published on: April 8, 2019 4:43 AM