Man City fight back to beat Southampton and reach fourth straight FA Cup final

Southampton, who upset Arsenal 2-1 in the quarter-finals, looked poised to continue their dream run when Finn Azaz struck ‌a gorgeous shot from distance in the 79th minute that James Trafford had little chance of stopping.

But in a thrilling second half of the semi-final, Jeremy Doku wiped out Southampton's lead four minutes later when he worked the ball on to his right foot before unleashing a shot from the edge of the penalty area that deflected off James Bree and into the net.

Gonzalez struck a rocket from 30 yards out, the longest goal scored by any City player this season, in the 87th minute and City, who won the League ⁠Cup earlier this season and are neck and neck with Arsenal at the top of the Premier League table, held on for victory in a breathless final few minutes.

"Really special for me, especially because I'm not used to scoring these goals," Gonzalez told TNT Sports.

"So with the winning goal like this, in this amazing stadium, it's amazing."

City, who have hoisted the FA Cup trophy seven times, will meet the winners of Sunday's semi-final between Chelsea and Leeds United in the May 16 final at Wembley.

"Every time you reach the final you're like wow what a journey it has been," Doku told the BBC. "Reaching the final again is unbelievable.

"I was analysing the game in the first half. We were playing in the middle a lot. I knew that I had to bring a threat and make it uncomfortable for the fullbacks. I watched (Southampton's) game against Arsenal ‌and I ⁠felt they deserved to win. They have a lot of quality players, I was not surprised (by how good they were)."

Southampton, who are 23 places below City in England's football pyramid in fifth in the second-tier Championship, were the better team in the first half against what was virtually a second-string City line-up, and had a goal from Leo Scienza chalked off for offside.

But Pep Guardiola's side were significantly better after the break, and a couple of key changes including sending ⁠on substitutes Erling Haaland and Doku, made a huge difference as City finished with 24 shots to Southampton's four, and six shots on target for the victors to three for the Saints.

The victory was City's 22nd in a row against FA Cup opponents from lower-division teams, but Southampton made the Premier League titans dig ⁠deep for it.

"It's the FA Cup, semi-final is always like that," Guardiola said. "We make an an incredible, incredible, incredible second half, really really good.

"It's always nice to be here fighting against top teams. No team has made four finals in a row. It's extraordinary and hopefully we can ⁠arrive with a good momentum."

The loss ended Southampton's 20-game unbeaten run across all competitions.

"It's emotional at the end but the reality is, just like every other game, we need to put this one to bed as quick as possible," said manager Tonda Eckert, whose team are in the thick of the fight for Premier League promotion playoff spots.