Ghana international Antoine Semenyo emerged the hero at Wembley as his second-half strike handed Manchester City a narrow 1-0 victory over Chelsea to clinch the 2026 FA Cup title.
In a tense and closely fought final, Semenyo produced a moment of brilliance with 20 minutes remaining to separate the two sides, instinctively turning home a low delivery from Erling Haaland from a difficult angle, beating goalkeeper Robert Sánchez to spark wild celebrations among the City supporters.
Semenyo became the first Ghanaian player to score in an FA Cup final, and the first African to do so since Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for Arsenal also against Chelsea back in 2020.
It was not a classic by any means, with only 16 shots recorded in the game the fewest on record in an FA Cup final since 2005 but City will not care one bit.
The decisive move came after Bernardo Silva slipped Haaland in behind the Chelsea defence, with the Norwegian swinging in a dangerous low pass into the box. Semenyo duped the defenders with a cheeky flick that guided the ball into the back of the net.
Chelsea pushed for a response, but the closest they came was former City striker Liam Delap heading over in stoppage time, and Guardiola’s men were able to see out the win.
The triumph is City’s eighth FA Cup in their history, and their third under Pep Guardiola, who has now reached 20 major trophies in his magnificent ten years with the club.
Having already beaten Arsenal in the EFL Cup final in March, City are now only the second club to win both domestic cups in the same season on two occasions, having previously done so in 2018/19.
For Chelsea, the defeat extended a painful run they have now lost their last four FA Cup finals and failed to score in each of their last five FA Cup and EFL Cup finals.
