Manchester City trio; Jack Grealish, John Stones, and IIkay Gundogan are in an ecstatic mood following the Cityzens’ 2-1 FA Cup final victory over Manchester United on Saturday, June 3 at Wembley Stadium.
The Cityzens got things rolling as early as the 18th second as IIkay Gundogan fired a shot into the net past David Degea from an Erling Haaland assist.
Bruno Fernandes scored from a penalty kick in the 33rd minute after Grealish was adjudged to have handled the ball in the box by VAR.
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Gundogan got his second goal in the 51st minute with a left-footed finish off a Kevin De Bruyne corner-kick.
Grealish described the win as unbelievable.
“Unbelievable. It’s the stuff you dream of when you are a little kid. I was desperate to win one at Villa and now I’ve done it,” Manchester Evening News quoted Grealish as saying.
He said about the referee’s penalty call: “I don’t even think it was a penalty. I wasn’t even looking at it, I turned and it hit my arm but Gundogan saved me. We’ll have a good night today then straight back at it on Sunday and Monday for a big game next week.”
Stones attributes City’s win to the early goal.
“Incredible feeling, emotion. Especially against our neighbours,” Mancity.com quoted Stones as saying
“What a start to the game. I’ve been in a few games where we score early and it hasn’t ended how we wanted, so today, our mindset and approach was incredible.”
Gundogan affirms that City deserved to win the trophy.
“To win a final is always special. Every trophy is special. This group deserves it, we played really well,” Gundogan said
Grealish provided three assists in five FA Cup games this season, while Stones made three appearances in the competition and Gundogan has a tally of two goals in three FA Cup matches.
Manchester City have won the FA Cup on seven occasions.
City are currently targeting a treble as they face Inter Milan in the Champions League final on June 10 at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey.
By Toju Sote
