Manchester City came from behind at the Vitality Stadium to beat Bournemouth 2-1 and move into the FA Cup semi-finals.
Nico O'Reilly and Pep Guardiola after their side's victory in the Emirates FA Cup Quarter Final match between AFC Bournemouth and Manchester City
Nico O'Reilly and Pep Guardiola are all smiles after the FA Cup win at Bournemouth
Manchester City will face Nottingham Forest at Wembley in the FA Cup semi-finals after a superb second-half turnaround saw them beat Bournemouth 2-1.
Erling Haaland saw his early penalty saved by Kepa and then missed a one-on-one before City were punished, with Evanilson giving Bournemouth a lead they deserved for their first-half performance.
But the introduction of Nico O'Reilly at half-time changed the game. He created both City goals, firing in a perfect low cross for Haaland to equalise and then threading a pass through to Omar Marmoush to score.
Marmoush had replaced the injured Haaland in what was the only note of concern for City, with the Norwegian limping off after picking up a knee injury.
O'Reilly gets the credit
It was Haaland who converted City's early second-half equaliser but almost all of his teammates went left to celebrate, hailing the impact of O'Reilly, who sent in the perfect low cross for the Norwegian to score.
Crosses always looked like being a big part of City's game plan but they struggled to make the most of them in the opening 45 minutes. O'Reilly was on his bike from the get go at the start of the second half and one of his forward surges saw him exploit the space down the left.
He composed himself when collecting Kevin De Bruyne's pass and played a perfect cross that allowed Haaland to finish first time. De Bruyne ran to the 20-year-old to salute him for the assist and once he had got the ball out of the net Haaland ran over to him as well, pointing at O'Reilly for the quality of the ball he delivered.
At full-time it was Pep Guardiola orchestrating the City fans, showing the emotion and passion that explains why he still has so much hunger for this job. He went round all of his squad and celebrated with them, reaching O'Reilly last. He pointed at the super sub, wrapped him a big bear hug and then shoved him towards the City fans singing his name. If he didn't have the faith of Guardiola before, he certainly does now.
Crossing hints
During the warm-up City spent several minutes getting their full-backs to whip in crosses for Haaland, Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva. Haaland was the only one of that trio likely to win a header, but Foden and Bernardo did get the odd volley away, with Ederson tasked with trying to keep them out.
It's unusual to see City focusing on crosses, but Josko Gvardiol and Matheus Nunes had clearly been told to get the ball in the box and were getting their eye in during the pre-match rituals.
It might have been more of a tactic given the ageing profile of that midfield, which was always going to face a real test against the running power of the Cherries.
Haaland's mixed day
Bournemouth fans were enjoying themselves in the sunshine before kick-off as the City players completed their warm-up before heading back down the tunnel.
They took great delight in Haaland dragging a couple of shots wide of goal, letting out a big cheer when the Norwegian missed the target. Little did they know it would be a sign of things to come in the first half.
Haaland missed a difficult headed chance early on but then saw his weak penalty saved before clipping a one-on-one over Kepa and the crossbar. Bournemouth fans really were loving that.
They weren't as happy when he equalised early in the second half but just when he looked ready to take the game by the scruff of the neck he was forced off with a knee injury and that is a real worry for City.