Manchester City won the 2026 FA Cup Final 1-0 against Chelsea at Wembley, with Antoine Semenyo scoring one of the most inventive goals a cup final has seen in years. His 72nd-minute backheel, right boot behind him and across Robert Sanchez, gave City their eighth FA Cup and a domestic double alongside the EFL Cup they claimed in March.
For Pep Guardiola’s side, it was a night of controlled pressure followed by a moment of improvised brilliance. For Chelsea, a season that has produced a 16th-place Premier League position ends without silverware.
The goal
City had the better of the game for long stretches. Chelsea sat deep and organised, denying space with a back four that held its shape. Neither goalkeeper made a meaningful save in the first half. Guardiola rotated the ball, changed angles and moved Chelsea’s defensive line, but could not find a clear route through.
Semenyo changed that. Arriving on the right of the area in the 72nd minute, he let the ball run through his legs, hung his right boot behind him and stabbed a finish across the dive of Sanchez into the bottom corner. He ran before the ball hit the net.
It was the kind of finish you attempt in training and abandon in a match. Semenyo, signed last summer for exactly this kind of disruptive quality, had the conviction to attempt it at Wembley. It settled the game.
A domestic double and rare company
City now hold two domestic trophies this season. The EFL Cup, won against Arsenal in March, was the first. The FA Cup is the second. They have become only the sixth side to win both domestic cups in the same season, joining Arsenal (1992-93), Liverpool (2000-01 and 2021-22), Chelsea (2006-07) and their own 2018-19 squad.
This was also the first ever FA Cup Final meeting between Chelsea and Manchester City. Neither club had faced the other at Wembley for the cup before.
The treble is still live
City turn their attention immediately to the Premier League. Arsenal lead by two points — 79 to 77 — with two games remaining each. City travel to Bournemouth on Tuesday evening. It is, by coincidence, Semenyo’s former club. After that, the final day on 24 May.
If City win both remaining matches and Arsenal drop points, the title comes to the Etihad. A domestic treble: EFL Cup, FA Cup, Premier League, all in one season. Erling Haaland has 26 league goals. Kevin De Bruyne has played with the composure of a man who knows these moments matter. The squad is not done.
The Wembley celebrations were short. The next match is 72 hours away.
City’s route
Exeter (R3), Salford (R4), Newcastle 3-1 (R5), Liverpool 4-0 (QF), Southampton 2-1 AET (SF). City won every tie and conceded twice across five rounds. The Liverpool quarter-final was the standout — a 4-0 win that removed any doubt about who wanted this trophy most.
The Southampton semi-final tested them more than the scoreline suggests. Extra time, a squad rested for the title race, a result that came through persistence rather than dominance. But they got through.
Chelsea’s season in context
Chelsea beat Charlton, Hull, Wrexham after extra time, Port Vale 7-0 in the quarter-final and Leeds 1-0 in the semi-final to reach Wembley. That run gave supporters genuine excitement in a difficult league campaign. The cup represented something the league table currently does not.
Cole Palmer, nine league goals this season, never found his best form against City’s defensive structure. The gaps he had exploited against Leeds simply were not available. City’s shape closed the channels Palmer uses to create danger, and Chelsea offered almost nothing from set pieces.
Sitting 16th in the Premier League with two games remaining, today was the closest Chelsea came to something significant all season.
The numbers
Eight FA Cups for Manchester City. They have won three in five years. For a club that went 56 years without lifting the trophy between 1969 and 2011, this current era has changed everything.
Chelsea had also won eight FA Cups before yesterday, one chance to go ahead. They could not take it.
What happens next
Arsenal face Crystal Palace on the final day. City face Aston Villa at the Etihad. Two points separate them with 180 minutes of football left. Bournemouth on Tuesday comes first.
Semenyo’s backheel at Wembley is already one of the most-replayed moments of the season. The question now is whether City add one more trophy on 24 May.
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