London [UK], June 3 (ANI): Following his side’s FA Cup title win, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said his team can have an off day tomorrow and the day after, adding that talks about treble can finally pick up now following their second title of the season.
Ilkay Gundogan scored a brace to help Manchester City to a 2-1 win over Manchester United in the final of the FA Cup at Wembley Stadium on Saturday, leaving City one game away from completing the treble, with UEFA Champions League final against Inter Milan on June 11 set to be their final mission.
“We can now talk about the treble. Of course, we still have to win the Champions League. We performed so well for our city and our fans. They follow man to man so tight and we didn’t expect them to defend so narrow. We found more spaces in the second half,” said Guardiola as quoted by FA Cup’s official website.
“Tomorrow and the next day they can have off. We have then got three or four sessions to train for Inter Milan. We will travel on Thursday morning after training. It was so important for us today. The FA Cup is so nice,” added the City boss.
“I am a Barcelona fan but I will love this club for the rest of my life. I know today we gave our fans a good gift to enjoy against our neighbours,” said Guardiola.
Gundogan sensationally volleyed Manchester City into the lead after just 12 seconds, breaking the previous record of Louis Saha’s 25-second goal in the 2009 FA Cup final.
United were on the verge of freezing on the big stage during City’s dominating beginning, but they stayed in the game and equalised when Jack Grealish was penalised for handball after blocking an Aaron Wan-Bissaka pass, which was seen by VAR.
Bruno Fernandes finished the job from the spot to level the scores in the 33rd minute.
City got back their lead again when Kevin De Bruyne found Gundogan on the outside of the box and he controlled his second volleyed finish of the game past David de Gea, who was caught off guard in the 51st minute.
An offside flag prevented Gundogan a hat-trick, and United attacked again in stoppage time, but an epic scramble ended with Raphael Varane’s strike hitting the top of the crossbar.
Pep Guardiola’s club will now meet Inter Milan in the Champions League final next Saturday with a chance to become only the second team, after Manchester United in 1999, to win the Premier League, FA Cup, and European Cup all in the same season. (ANI)
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