Article by Daniel Grigore – Published Saturday, May 16, 2026, 10:10 p.m. / Updated Saturday, May 16, 2026, 10:11 p.m.
Pep Guardiola, 55, commented Manchester City's triumph in the FA Cup. Tonight, the Citizens beat Chelsea in the final of the competition, 1-0, with a superb 72nd minute backheel goal from Antoine Semenyo!
The trophy won today is the 20th for Pep Guardiola on the Manchester City bench. Also this season, the “citizens” also lifted the League Cup, and now they remain confident that they can recover the deficit against Arsenal in the Premier League.
After the game, Guardiola insisted there was little room for celebration given his side could still win the title, and praised the impact of Semenyo, brought in from Bournemouth in January.
Pep Guardiola, after the FA Cup triumph: “It's special to win this trophy”
“We are very pleased. This trophy is really great and so is the tradition of it. It is special to win, but I had the feeling that last season against Crystal Palace and two seasons ago against United we were better than today. But in games like this, the differences are minimal.
Since he arrived, Antoine has had a sense of goal. He can play in three positions and in this match he had an incredible finish. It was a huge moment. It was a little change, normally he crosses for Erling, but he has this instinct and it was a very nice goal,” said the Catalan coach.
Asked if there would be a special celebration following this triumph, Guardiola was firm: “No, maybe a beer. We're celebrating with a parade in Manchester next Monday.”
And he wanted to claim the different context of the two combatants, considering that his team had played 3 days ago in the championship:
“Chelsea had seven days to prepare for the final. We spent six hours traveling by train yesterday. It's a problem in this country! I think we behaved well and are stable. Finals can be decided by details.”
At least two trophies in the last season for Bernardo Silva and Stones
In the summer, captain Bernardo Silva and reserve John Stones will leave the club after nine and ten years at the Etihad respectively.
In this context, Guardiola said: “Absolutely, it's nice for them, but if we were to judge their contribution just by winning this trophy, that's not the case. They've been incredible and I'm extremely grateful to them for the way they represented this club in the best possible way. Bernardo is a machine and today he proved it again“.
“I've always had that feeling, but even now I can't get over the feeling that so many incredible players couldn't play. Six didn't make the trip and Phil [Foden] played exceptionally Wednesday night, but did not take the field today.
It's hard, but that's the situation. John and Bernardo are leaving, but we have two more games and hopefully we can fight for the Premier League,” Guardiola concluded.
The goal? It's happened a few times in practice, and today it worked out perfectly. Everything happened so fast. The ball came straight to me and I had to improvise as fast as I could.
I've never fought for trophies like this before, so it's all new. I hope we get the job done [în campionat].
As a kid, I always wanted to play for the top teams – it took a long time to get here, but I'm grateful. The first thing he said to me [Guardiola] when I arrived it was: «Don't change your playing style».
– Antoine Semenyo, Manchester City winger
Two points separate Arsenal and Manchester City with two Premier League games remaining. To win the title, Guardiola's side need the leaders not to win both of their games.
