City hopeful of the treble after FA Cup triumph against Newcastle

Manchester City will face Arsenal in FA Cup semi-finals after Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling were on target to book City’s spot in the last four of the competition.

The current holders of the trophy showed class and patience to beat Newcastle 0-2 at an eerily quiet St James’ Park.

Pep Guardiola and his men are still in hunt of a treble this season with the Carabao cup already won, they still have the FA Cup and Champions League in sight.

In an utterly dominant first-half performance, De Bruyne gave City the lead from the penalty spot on the 37th-minute mark after Fabian Schar had pushed over Gabriel Jesus. A negative Newcastle rarely ventured out of their half but really should have equalised when Dwight Gayle somehow missed the target when presented with an open goal in the 66th-minute of the game. Just two minutes later, Sterling punished that howler by curling home a delightful effort into the far corner.

The errors by Schar and Gayle undid Newcastle’s hard work, but City kept their composure to extend their winning FA Cup run to 10 games.

Having already won the League Cup and with a lead over Real Madrid in the last 16 of the Champions League, it could still be a memorable season for Pep Guardiola’s side.

For Newcastle, the dream of reaching an FA Cup semi-final at Wembley for the first time since 2000 was beyond them, but they can now concentrate on trying to fulfill Bruce’s aim of breaking into the Premier League’s top 10.

See also: Dani Ceballos lands Arsenal FA Cup Semi Final ticket with late goal

• Newcastle United have conceded two or more goals in 20 of their last 24 matches against Man City in all competitions.
• City has won its last 10 FA Cup matches by an aggregate score of 37-4. The Citizens are only the third team to achieve this feat since the turn of the 20th century, after Aston Villa (10 between 1913 and 1914) and Chelsea (13 between 2009 and 2011).
• De Bruyne is the first Manchester City player to score a goal on his birthday since Nolito vs Everton in October 2016
• Newcastle has lost an FA Cup quarter-final match at home for the first time since March 1961 against Sheffield United (3-1).
• Sterling netted his first goal from outside the box since November 2018 v Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League.
• Phil Foden, who set up Sterling, has had a hand in seven goals in just six FA Cup appearances for City, scoring four and assisting three.