FA Cup
Mahrez historical hat-trick seals FA Cup final spot for Manchester City
Riyad Mahrez scored the first FA Cup semi-final hat-trick since 1958 as Manchester City eased into the final with a 3-0 defeat of Sheffield United.
The Algeria international put Pep Guardiola’s treble-chasing side ahead with a penalty late in the first half before striking twice more after the hour.
Championship high-flyers United failed to trouble the imperious City, who made light of their draining schedule in the week they also reached the Champions League semi-finals with a commanding performance.
It was their 11th win in 12 games and they now go into Wednesday’s crucial top-of-table Premier League clash with leaders Arsenal with considerable confidence and momentum.
The loss made for an anti-climatic end to the Blades’ superb run in the competition but their main goal of promotion back to the top-flight should soon follow.
Guardiola made six changes but retained the prolific Erling Haaland, who has scored 48 goals this season, in attack.
Surprisingly, however, it was not the Norwegian who dominated the game but one of the players brought into the side – Mahrez.
United were without their two City loanees in Tommy Doyle and James McAtee and the pair were missed as they struggled to gain a foothold in the game.
Yet the outcome could have been different had the Blades taken their one meaningful chance of the game in the second minute.
Iliman Ndiaye should have scored when the ball fell to him following a corner but he shot straight at Stefan Ortega.
The Blades were to rue that miss as they saw very little of the ball thereafter.
To their credit they defended stoutly and initially limited City to few clear-cut chances but it seemed only a matter of time before Guardiola’s men would break through.
Haaland gave United a warning when he rifled in a shot from 35 yards but the whistle had already been blown for a foul.
Mahrez curled a shot wide and Julian Alvarez forced a good save from Wes Foderingham before John Fleck diverted a Bernardo Silva cross dangerously close to his own goal.
United threatened again when Jack Robinson took aim from distance but Ortega was not troubled.
City went ahead just before the interval after Daniel Jebbison brought down Silva in the area.
Mahrez, assuming penalty-taking duties after Haaland fired over against Bayern Munich in midweek, confidently sent Foderingham the wrong way.
The second half continued in much the same fashion, with United struggling to gain any meaningful possession.
City gradually turned the screw and they doubled the lead just after the hour as Mahrez seized the ball in midfield and was allowed to run through unchallenged.
With no sign of a tackle as he reached the box, he coolly slotted past Foderingham.
He completed his treble five minutes later. Again the United defence were helpless, this time allowing Jack Grealish to clip in a ball from the left.
Mahrez met it with a sweet strike from in front of goal and, despite getting a hand to it, Foderingham was unable to keep it out.
Guardiola then began to turn his attention to Arsenal and made a number of changes.
City confidently played out time and will now return to the national stadium in June to face rivals Manchester United or Brighton.
Arsenal survived a genuine scare in the FA Cup fifth round on Saturday as they edged past spirited third-tier Mansfield Town 2-1, with Eberechi Eze’s thunderbolt sending the Premier League leaders into the quarter-finals.
Noni Madueke gave Arsenal the lead going into halftime at Field Mill, but Will Evans equalised for Nigel Clough’s Mansfield before Eze scored in the 66th minute to ensure the top-flight side progressed to the last eight.
“Happy to score. I had the space and the opportunity to shoot. So I took it,” Eze told TNT Sports.
“It was a difficult environment to play in. But we did what we had to do and we are through to the next round, which is the important thing.”
Mikel Arteta named a much-changed side, starting teenagers Max Dowman and Marli Salmon, as Arsenal became the first Premier League side to start a competitive game with two players aged 16 or under in any competition.
However, Arteta’s changes nearly backfired as the hosts, feeding off a raucous home crowd, gave Arsenal a genuine fright with aggressive pressing and infectious energy that clearly unsettled the visitors.
“Before the game, the gaffer said, ‘Have a go. We were not expected to win the game, so have a go and enjoy it,” Mansfield forward Rhys Oates said.
“We created more chances than we thought we could, and we have given them a game.”
Dowman, Arsenal’s youngest-ever FA Cup player at 16, emerged as a lively attacking threat as the top-flight side gradually found their rhythm before Madueke broke the deadlock in the 41st minute.
Madueke, who had an initial shot saved, curled a powerful finish into the far corner to give Arsenal their 100th goal of the season in all competitions.
Clough brought on Evans for the second half, and the Welsh striker made an immediate impact, netting five minutes after coming on.
The 28-year-old wrong-footed a second-guessing Cristhian Mosquera before finishing past Kepa Arrizabalaga in Arsenal’s goal.
“It’s typical, isn’t it? For me to have a league goal drought and then come on for a half against Arsenal and have a goal against them,” Evans said.
Arsenal were rattled but recovered and found the winner when substitute Eze made space for himself and fired a powerful shot from the edge of the box to silence the crowd at Field Mill and keep Arsenal’s quadruple bid on track.
-Reuters
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
Chelsea’s Alejandro Garnacho and Joao Pedro struck in extra time to secure a nervy 4–2 win over second‑tier Wrexham and reach the FA Cup quarter‑finals on Saturday as the Premier League giants escaped from the Racecourse Ground after a tough battle.
Garnacho volleyed home from close range in the 97th minute with such force that the ball ricocheted off the back stanchion to give Chelsea the lead for the first time on the night.
Wrexham — who lost George Dobson to a 93rd-minute red card — thought they had equalised deep into added time in the extra period when Lewis Brunt headed home, but he was offside. Pedro then sealed Chelsea’s win with a fine goal in the 125th minute.
Sam Smith had put the Championship side ahead in the 18th when he sprinted onto Callum Doyle’s long pass, took a touch and fired past Robert Sanchez. Chelsea equalised with a huge slice of luck when George Thomason’s attempt to clear Garnacho’s shot struck goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo and rolled in.
Wrexham went back in front after 78 minutes when Doyle diverted the ball past Sanchez after Ryan Longman fired it back into the area from a corner. But Josh Acheampong equalised soon after with a blistering shot into the roof of the net after Dobson slipped to send the game into extra time.
-Reuters
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
Arsenal will visit League One Mansfield Town, while Manchester City travel to Newcastle United in a mouth-watering all-Premier League tie following the FA Cup fifth round draw on Monday.
Third-tier Mansfield stunned top-flight strugglers Burnley 2-1 at Turf Moor on Saturday and have been rewarded with a clash against 14-time winners and Premier League leaders Arsenal.
Pep Guardiola’s City face Newcastle in a repeat of one of this season’s League Cup semi-finals, while Premier League bottom side Wolverhampton Wanderers host Liverpool.
Brentford head to West Ham United after an own goal away to sixth-tier Macclesfield, who stunned holders Crystal Palace in the last round, giving them a 1-0 win on Monday.
Championship side Wrexham welcome eight-time winners Chelsea, while Fulham entertain Southampton and Leeds United host another second-tier side in Norwich City.
Sunderland face a second successive away trip after being drawn against Port Vale or Bristol City, whose fourth-round tie has been postponed until March 3 due to a waterlogged pitch.
FA Cup fifth round draw
- Fulham v Southampton
- Port Vale or Bristol City v Sunderland
- Newcastle United v Manchester City
- Leeds United v Norwich City
- Mansfield Town v Arsenal
- Wolverhampton Wanderers v Liverpool
- Wrexham v Chelsea
- West Ham United v Brentford
Matches to be played over the weekend of March 7–8
-Reuters
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0HY
- WAFCON4 days ago
BREAKING: CAF Postpones WAFCON 2026
- OBITUARY5 days ago
Nigerian Sports Journalism Mourns Oyeniyi Oyeleke and Tonex Chukwu
- MLS1 week ago
Trump to Host Lionel Messi and Inter Miami at the White House
- World Cup5 days ago
‘I really don’t care’ if Iran plays in World Cup, Trump tells Politico
- World Cup4 days ago
Iraq’s World Cup Playoff in Doubt as War Disrupts Travel and Visa Processing
- FA Cup2 days ago
Eze thunderbolt guides Arsenal past Mansfield into FA Cup quarter-finals
- WAFCON1 week ago
Ahead of WAFCON 2026, CAF Celebrates Super Falcons’ Enduring Legacy from Trailblazers to Torchbearers
- World Cup3 days ago
World Cup 2026: U-20 World Cup Winner Ouahbi Takes Charge of Morocco’s Atlas Lions