Pep Guardiola says he and his players fully expected the FA Cup semi-final against Southampton to be a difficult game.
Match Report
City see off Southampton to reach record fourth successive FA Cup final
The Championship side, on a long unbeaten run and having seen off Arsenal in the last round, went in front on 79 minutes and looked on course for another shock win.
But goals from Jeremy Doku and a wonder strike from Nico Gonzalez three minutes from the end of normal time set up a record fourth successive FA Cup final against either Chelsea or Leeds United.
“They were 19 games unbeaten, so I never thought it would be easy,” said Pep.
“So the energy we had in the second half from Jeremy and Savinho [helped, but], if they started from the beginning they would not have this energy.
“Because Jeremy, especially when you play three days, three days, three days, the risk of getting injured is so massive. The players [who started] deserved to play, they helped us.
“The first half was not bad. We didn’t concede much. In the second half, we played at the level we played in Burnley but unfortunately we arrived in the 18-yard box, and we were not clinical enough.
“You have to wait for the holding midfielder to score an outstanding goal. And Jeremy with the first. How many times in the second half did Southampton cross the halfway? One. And what a goal.
“Football is unpredictable. Big credit for the way they defend, the way they play.
“And, again, the team in the second half was really exceptional. The amount of ‘go, go, go’. We create chance after chance after chance.
“But football is like this. We equalise through the deflection. When you analyse, we created chances - more clear than that. That’s football.”
And the boss also had further praise for the impact Doku made, adding: “The way Jeremy grew up in the last two seasons in terms of impact, he is an incredible threat.
“He is almost impossible when 1 v 1 in the final third. He had a lot of help, 2 against 1, 3 against 1. The full back has to be so aggressive.
“The effort was there. We knew it, semi-final of the FA Cup. You cannot expect that it will be easy.
“We will be back in a few weeks.”