Manchester City Win FA Cup Final as Semenyo Stuns Chelsea

After losing two FA Cup finals in a row in 2024 and 2025, Manchester City finally got their hands on the trophy again in 2026 at Wembley, beating Chelsea 1-0 on Saturday.

Antoine Semenyo scored the only goal of the match with around 20 minutes left, helping Pep Guardiola’s side complete a domestic cup double after their EFL Cup win over Arsenal in March.

This was Manchester City’s eighth FA Cup title, putting them level with Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham.

Both teams also had key players back in action, with Reece James starting for Chelsea and Rodri returning for Manchester City for the final.

City believed they had gone ahead in the 26th minute when Matheus Nunes was sent through on the right side of the Chelsea box by Semenyo and crossed for Erling Haaland to finish, but the flag went up for offside.

Haaland had arrived at Wembley still without a goal in eight matches there and also without scoring in nine finals for City. He came close before half-time, but Chelsea keeper Robert Sánchez made a sharp save at the near post to keep him out.

Chelsea also appealed for a penalty when João Pedro fell inside the City box after a challenge from Abdukodir Khusanov, but the referee felt it was just a fair shoulder-to-shoulder challenge and didn’t give it.

Chelsea looked much better than in their recent league matches, but most of their attacks ended up as penalty appeals rather than real chances.

Haaland was not getting much service, so he started creating chances himself in the 72nd minute. He played a quick one-two with Bernardo Silva on the right, then set up Semenyo, who finished it with a clever backheel into the bottom corner.

It marked the first time Erling Haaland was involved in a goal for City in a final, and his first-ever goal contribution at Wembley as well.

Meanwhile, Semenyo also wrote his name into the record books by becoming the first Ghanaian player to score in an FA Cup final. He is also the first African to do it since Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored for Arsenal against Chelsea in 2020.

Chelsea then kept pushing for a late equalizer, but their clearest chance came in stoppage time when Liam Delap sent a header over the bar. Manchester City eventually held their nerves at the back and closed out the match, sealing their second trophy of the season.