Pep Guardiola says title race means Manchester City must prepare for ‘six cup finals’

‘Six games, we’ll be there, if we lose it’s over,’ says City manager

Prefer the Guardian on GooglePep Guardiola praised his players and targeted “six cup finals” after Nico González’s 87th-minute winner knocked out Southampton and sent Manchester City to an unprecedented fourth successive FA Cup final.

Tonda Eckert’s team were heading for a shock victory via Finn Azaz’s 79th-minute strike. But just three minutes later the substitute Jérémy Doku equalised before González’s long-range winner.

Guardiola said: “The team in the second half was really exceptional. The amount of chance, chance, chance after chance we created. We didn’t concede much in the second half.”

The manager was impressed with Azaz’s goal, which came after he turned and scored from 25 yards. “We are not clinical enough, and then they scored the first,” he said. “What a goal. Football is unpredictable, that’s why sometimes it’s: ‘Oh my God.’ How many times like in the second half did Southampton cross halfway?”

City, who will play the winner of Sunday’s other semi-final between Chelsea and Leeds in the final on 16 May, will next focus on the Premier League.

After Arsenal’s win over Newcastle on Saturday, City are second, three points behind the north London team, and by the time they play at Everton a week on Monday they could trail by six, having played two games fewer. The trip to Everton is the first of City’s last five games.

“Now six cup finals,” said Guardiola including that of the FA Cup. “Six games, every game we win in the league, we’ll be there – if we lose, it’s over and of course we have the other one – the Cup final.

“We are in the Cup final again, we have time to prepare with our fans. Now it’s easy, so rest and mentally, physically, because it has been a tough, week, a lot of emotions and go for these five games.”

Eckert was disappointed, though, he targeted Tuesday’s penultimate Championship match against second-placed Ipswich; victory would take his side to 79 points, one behind their opponents.

“We controlled most moments very well – it doesn’t happen too often that you lose a game against City from two goals outside the box,” he said. “We need to put this performance to bed because the real test of maturity comes on Tuesday.

“We go again against Ipswich – we are ready to suffer. Every game is different. Some games we need to win with possession, some on transition. We showed we can play different kind of games – our dedication is clear. Today gives us extra fuel to make sure we finish the season strong.”