Man City 1-2

Independent:

Chelsea 1 Manchester City 2 FA Cup semi-final
Yaya Touré too strong for slow-starting Chelsea

By SAM WALLACE

It was well past 5.30pm today when finally this FA Cup semi-final burst into life and, although it was rather late in the day for Chelsea to finally stake a claim to the match, it was well worth the wait.
It was well past 5.30pm today when finally this FA Cup semi-final burst into life and, although it was rather late in the day for Chelsea to finally stake a claim to the match, it was well worth the wait.
Before then, Roberto Mancini's team had done just about everything apart from score the goals their dominance of the match warranted. With just more than 25 minutes remaining, the score at 2-1 and the pitch draining the life out of the legs of two tired teams it eventually became a Cup tie that might go either way.
As Chelsea threw themselves at their opposition with the kind of intensity they had failed to muster for the previous hour, they might well have scored the equaliser. Some old animosities rose to the surface, not least when Sergio Aguero lunged two-footed at David Luiz. Fernando Torres exacted retribution on Aguero. Suddenly it felt like something was at stake.
It was certainly preferable to the previous day's action when Millwall fans old enough to know better were trading blows with one another and fighting with police. If ever the Football Association needed a good game to divert attention from Saturday's debacle then it was yesterday and, in the end, they got the full quota of excitement, debatable refereeing performances and aggrieved losers.
Rafael Benitez said the referee, Chris Foy, had got it wrong when it came to Vincent Kompany's tug on the shirt of Torres on 87 minutes, a "clear penalty" according to the interim first-team coach and potentially a red card too. He was less concerned about the altogether more spectacular stamp by Aguero on Luiz that followed an earlier elbow by the Chelsea defender on his opponent.
Overrun in the first half it took far too long for Chelsea to spark. They eventually scored within seconds of Torres coming on as substitute when he and Demba Ba chased a long ball from Luiz and the Senegalese striker improvised brilliantly to volley past Costel Pantilimon. After that, inspired largely by Eden Hazard, they might have scored the equaliser as City fell back into their own half and invited the pressure.
It had been a very different story in the first half when it felt like Chelsea had given up the ghost and City's one regret was that they came in at half-time only a goal ahead. Benitez's side had seven changes from the defeat to Rubin Kazan in Moscow on Thursday but was identical to the team that beat Sunderland a week earlier.
The sheer novelty of the Europa League contrasted with Chelsea's relative familiarity with the FA Cup – they have won it four times in the last six years – means while yesterday was a blow, of the two cup competitions it is probably the less important of the two. Benitez's stated aim in recent weeks, with the resources at his disposal, has been a top-three finish and one of two trophies – which is still achievable.
In many respects this game reflected why both City and Chelsea, with their well-resourced squads and experienced managers, have been unable to challenge Manchester United consistently over the course of the season. At times both were capable of exhilarating football, particularly City, it should be said. But both also looked somewhat vulnerable when they felt the tide turn against them.
The first goal came on 35 minutes, from Samir Nasri but it should have been a lot sooner. The Frenchman exchanged passes with Aguero and when the ball came back to him it fell kindly from Cesar Azpilicueta's challenge for him to shoot past Petr Cech. At that point Kompany had been obliged to clear Hazard's high-bouncing volley off the line but little else.
City should have had another before half-time when the ball fell to Aguero and then James Milner in the area. Then two minutes into the new half the Argentine striker headed the ball beautifully back over Cech from Gareth Barry's cross.
Yaya Touré was dominant in midfield at that stage. It looked like a case of how many goals City would score.
The goal from Ba changed the mood entirely. Soon after, Hazard cut the ball back to Ba and he had his shot saved by Pantilimon, Mancini's goalkeeper of choice so far in the FA Cup. The City manager would not be drawn on whether Pantilimon would start ahead of Joe Hart at Wembley against Wigan in the final on 11 May – "we have four weeks to decide that" – but it certainly would seem that way.
Sensing danger, Mancini brought off Carlos Tevez, pushed Touré up into the position behind Aguero and brought on Javi Garcia to shore up the centre of midfield. Ultimately it worked but not before City seemed to concede the momentum to their opponents. Touré, charging forward on 80 minutes should have passed to Pablo Zabaleta, in a better position to score.
Aguero's lunge at Luiz was a red-card offence if the referee had a proper view of it but, as ever, it is unlikely to be the subject of further action. Foy will surely say that he saw the incident, although not its full severity, which will preclude any FA action. The usual row will ensue for a few days and then football will, as ever, move on.
Even in those closing moments of the game, Benitez resisted any temptation he might have had to bring on Frank Lampard. John Terry also spent the afternoon watching from the bench. The pair have, of course, had to get accustomed to their new position over the last few months but, even so, these are times of change.
Those two are Wembley and FA Cup stalwarts; indeed Terry is the veteran of five Chelsea FA Cup triumphs dating back 13 years. But the team is changing and Benitez is organising according to the exacting demands that they have faced. Now out the FA Cup, their potential week from hell of four games in eight days between 5 May and 12 May only has three games.
There is no time to rest with Fulham awaiting at Craven Cottage on Wednesday and the chance to reclaim third place in the Premier League from Arsenal. As for City, their season holds out the possibility of a trophy against Wigan in 26 days time. They have at last hit some form and, while too late to reclaim the league, it is better late than never.

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Guardian:

Chelsea left playing catch-up as Manchester City superiority tells
Dominic Fifield at Wembley

Chelsea began the season with seven trophies in sight – now only one remains after a tie that exposed Manchester City's stronger development
The surge of adrenalin-fuelled belief had flared just as thisbreathless contest lurched into its final quarter. Demba Ba sparked it all by spinning from Matija Nastasic and volleying with an outstretched boot as he tumbled to the turf to score the first goal conceded by Manchester City in this season's FA Cup and, for 24 frantic minutes, Chelsea tore into their opponents like a team possessed. Yet, by the time the final whistle strangled their hope for good, all that remained for those clad in black was a familiar sense of choking disappointment.
The European champions have experienced it a few times during a season where, brutally speaking, they have regressed into nearly men. Back in August when these two sides collided at Villa Park, they had aspired to claim seven trophies and maintain all the momentum from Munich. One by one, those opportunities have slipped away. The Community Shield and European Super Cup were lost in August, the Champions League and, effectively, the Premier League in November, and the Fifa Club World Cup a month later. The Capital One Cup and now FA Cup have followed, with Chelsea left to pursue the one trophy they had not initially entered and, privately, must still curse they are in at all. The Europa League is all that remains in this campaign of transition.
Hoisting a trophy in Amsterdam next month would still constitute a fine achievement, leaving them holders of both elite Uefa competitions simultaneously, for a few days at least. But they must overcome Basel in the semi-finals, a regular stumbling block, to have that chance. As Chelsea players stood hands on hips around the centre-circle and watched City celebrate with their supporters, the one consolation from this defeat – that their cluttered schedule over the season's final fortnight has now been eased somewhat with no return to Wembley inked into the diary – must have felt like no consolation at all.
This game was still made by the holders' barnstorming if unlikely recovery in those latter stages. For more than an hour Chelsea had appeared drained, outmuscled by powerful opponents doing to them what Roberto Di Matteo's charges had done to Tottenham Hotspur in the same fixture a year ago. Yaya Touré and Vincent Kompany were imposing, the 20-year-old Nastasic already a player of such stature in Serbia's side. Sergio Agüero and Carlos Tevez had been a constant menace, with even Samir Nasri contributing to complement the trademark industry from James Milner and Gareth Barry. Rafael Benítez's side had gasped just to keep up, eclipsed by the Frenchman's opener and Agüero's wonderfully looped header. In the circumstances, it seemed inconceivable that Chelsea might revive.
This, after all, was a seventh game in 19 days, and a 59th of term. That is 15 more than City have had to endure. Break it down further and, over the past five weeks, City have played six times compared with Chelsea's 11, a schedule that took them to Moscow last week and Bucharest last month. If the interim manager has rotated and refreshed where he could, for all that the omission of Frank Lampard and John Terry here will have further infuriated the club's support, he can do little to combat mental fatigue. His defenders and defensive midfield rather froze at times when City buzzed into range, not least at Barry's delivery for Agüero's goal. The lethargic start and sloppy concessions might be pinned to weary minds as much as energy-sapped limbs.
That is the theory, anyway, though it was rather undermined by the revival. How could players apparently exhausted conjure such a finish? Kompany suggested complacency had seeped into City's approach, that it was all "too comfortable", and the introduction of Fernando Torres, whose own confidence is soaring, clearly drove Benítez's side on. But the manager was not clinging to fatigue as a factor. "If you say it was then you cannot explain how we finished so strongly," he said. "We had to show more character in possession, and we did that in the second half. But give credit to Manchester City, a very good team who are so strong, physically and technically, with players who can make the difference."
That was a reminder of where Chelsea truly are. City have now overcome them three times this season and were the better team, too, in Benítez's first game in charge despite the goalless scoreline that afternoon, a reflection of the fact these teams finished first and sixth in the Premier League last year and are seven points apart in this season's table. The current league champions are simply further along in their development as a squad. This has been a frantic and, as yet, fruitless campaign.
But, while missing out on another showpiece will leave Chelsea smarting, it is more painful to acknowledge they are still seeking to catch City up.

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Telegraph:

Chelsea 1 Manchester City 2
Henry Winter

Manchester City reached the FA Cup final against Wigan Athletic on May 11 but they needed to withstand a spirited response from Chelsea, who refused to let the Cup leave their grasp without a real fight.
City were in control, leading through Samir Nasri and Sergio Aguero, when Chelsea suddenly started playing, pulling a goal back through Demba Ba but City held on. Just.
It would have been cruel on Yaya Toure in particular if City had not progressed. The midfielder was again immense, charging from end to end, a powerful blend of physique and touch almost unplayable at times, contributing fully to a magnificent Cup tie.
A superb game acquired controversial elements in the second half. Aguero should have been sent off for a two-footed challenge on David Luiz. Fernando Torres then raked Aguero while the Spanish striker was unfortunate not to win a penalty after being impeded by Vincent Kompany.
Led out by Kompany, City had settled the quicker and it took Chelsea more than an hour to show. Until then, City controlled the game.
From the opening minutes, Toure charged away from Eden Hazard, who struggled to cling to his coat-tails. Aguero hit the side-netting.
Attacks were coming from all angles. Gael Clichy scampered through the middle. Nasri made a sparkling dribble into the box.
Aguero flicked on a Toure shot, forcing Petr Cech into a save against the post. Cech then pushed away a Carlos Tévez shot, following a long, intricate move by City.
For an hour, Chelsea’s counters were intermittent. Kompany shepherded the ball away from Ba. John Obi Mikel overhit a pass to Ba. Matija Nastasic ran across to close down Ba. Oscar, showing his quick feet, nutmegged
Pablo Zabaleta and was brought down. Yet they woke up briefly midway through the half finding their belief. Oscar, Juan Mata and Hazard stepped up a gear, and Ba’s runs began to be more productive.
After 22 minutes, Kompany was penalised for a push on Ba out on Chelsea’s right. Mata lifted in the free kick, City scrambled the ball out but Hazard met the clearance, striking it down into the ground over a line of players, including the huge keeper Costel Pantilimon, but Kompany was well-placed on the line.
Chelsea raced upfield again, Ramires crudely stopped by Barry, but they were caught out by another reminder of Toure’s class after 35 minutes. He stormed down the right, cutting in and playing the ball through to Aguero.
The Argentine laid the ball off to Nasri, who got a fortunate bounce off Cesar Azpilicueta, and stroked the ball past Cech.
Chelsea responded. Oscar was switching flanks in an attempt to find a way through.
Appearing on the left, the Brazilian touched the ball across to Mata, whose left-footed shot caused Pantilimon to throw himself into a huge, stretching attempt to reach the ball but it was going way wide.
Pantilimon’s presence was a surprise, replacing Joe Hart, but he had little to do for an hour.
The focus remained on Cech’s area as the second half opened. City were late to re-emerge from the dressing-room, although Roberto Mancini was out early, signing autographs as he waited for his players.
Their timing was soon operating like clockwork again. James Milner, working the right, slipped the ball back to Barry, who dinked in a cross. Chelsea froze. Cech was rooted to his line. Branislav Ivanovic had failed to stick with Aguero, who looped a header over Cech and in.
Chelsea briefly looked tired, their heavy schedule now amounting to 59 games seeming to have caught up with them. Until the hour mark, they kept being hustled out of possession by City.
Toure nicked the ball off Mata, who ran back to rescue the situation with an interception off Tévez. Zabaleta then took the ball effortlessly off Oscar. Clichy added to Azpilicueta’s woes with a neat intervention.
Oscar, Hazard and Ramires had chances but nothing was going right for Chelsea until Rafa Benítez made an important move, calling for Torres after 64 minutes.
Chelsea’s interim first-team coach could have removed Ba, keeping the 4-2-3-1 system but instead he went 4-4-2 and was immediately rewarded. Luiz swept a long ball forward and Ba, exploiting rare uncertainty in City’s defence, hooked Chelsea back into the game.
Chelsea were transformed. Gone were all the thoughts about heavy legs and that intense schedule. Hazard played the ball into the box, Nastasic stretched out a foot but Mata was through.
Pantilimon ran out and dived at Mata’s feet, getting the ball but also catching the Spaniard. Chris Foy waved play on.
Chelsea believed the tide was turning. Ba turned nimbly in the box but Pantilimon saved well. Mancini made a change after 73 minutes, a cautious change, removing Tévez for Javi Garcia with Toure pushing on.
City’s fans tried to rally their team, chanting 'Come on City, come on City' as Chelsea continued to attack. One Hazard run was crudely ended by Kompany; Luiz’s free kick whistled wide.
City had a rare break but Toure had his heel clipped when shooting. The game then turned ugly. Luiz was holding off Aguero aggressively but nothing could condone the Argentine’s reaction, jumping two-footed into the Brazilian.
Somehow, Aguero escaped punishment despite the referee Chris Foy being close by. Some retribution was exacted by Luiz’s friend Torres, who raked Aguero’s Achilles.
Torres almost inflicted more pain. Running on to Mata’s pass with four minutes remaining, he clearly had his shirt pulled by Kompany, impeding his path to goal. Foy ignored the offence.
The fourth official, Kevin Friend, signalled four minutes of added time. In the first, Toure and Aguero almost calmed City’s nerves with a breakaway.
Still Chelsea believed. Ryan Bertrand delivered in a cross from the left but Pantilimon claimed it.
It was breathless stuff, classic cup fare. Into the third minute, Hazard drove through but his shot was poor, surprisingly for such a fine technical player. Shortly after, Foy blew the final whistle and City were through to the final.

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Times:

Manchester City weather late storm against Chelsea to remain on silverware trail

Chelsea 1 Manchester City 2

  Oliver Kay


The tumultuous celebrations of last May will not be matched this year for either of these clubs, but, in the scramble for the consolation prizes, Manchester City overcame Chelsea in a pulsating FA Cup semi-final yesterday to secure their place in the Final against Wigan Athletic.
By then, City are almost certain to have grudgingly handed over the Barclays Premier League title, but, if there is even a trace of disappointment among any of their fans at the thought of a one-in, one-out policy in the trophy room, it is tempered by the knowledge that these are incredible times for a club who, this time two years ago, had just gone 35 years without winning a leading competition.
With Yaya Touré enjoying another of those familiar late-season surges, Roberto Mancini’s team deserved their win, outplaying their opponents for an hour, taking a 2-0 lead through Samir Nasri and Sergio Agüero and then surviving an anxious final 30 minutes as Chelsea belatedly got their act together. The introduction of Fernando Torres was followed almost instantly by a goal from Demba Ba and, for the remainder of the game, Chelsea’s players shrugged off all talk of weariness to leave City on the ropes.
It was reminiscent of Chelsea’s quarter-final tie at Old Trafford, when they recovered from two goals down to force a replay. If Rafael Benítez’s team felt that they could repeat that feat, they were frustrated by City’s resistance — and, the interim manager said, by Chris Foy, the referee, who rejected a penalty appeal when Torres was tugged by Vincent Kompany, with the match officials also missing a wild challenge by Agüero on David Luiz near the touchline.
By the end, Benítez can hardly have known who to blame — the officials, fatigue, his team selection or at least the time taken to change it — but the crucial point is that they were up against a City side who, in the Premier League, have outperformed them this season and last. And over the past couple of weeks, since the international break, City have been playing as well as they can, reinforced by the return of Kompany and perhaps stimulated by the feeling that it is make-or-break time again.
These are teams that tend to come to life at this time of the campaign. Chelsea’s record of reaching and winning semi-finals and finals has been extraordinary in recent seasons, while City will feel that their past two victories, in the Manchester derby on Monday and at Wembley yesterday, illustrate the return of the momentum that swept them to the FA Cup two seasons ago and the Premier League title last year.
Certainly City looked for the first hour yesterday like a team with the bit between their teeth, picking up where they had left off at Old Trafford. The defending of Pablo Zabaleta, Matija Nastasic and Kompany was proactive and assertive, their midfield play was focused, with Gareth Barry supporting Touré, and Carlos Tévez and Agüero were combining well in attack.
Chelsea were not helping themselves. With John Terry and Frank Lampard left on the bench, Petr Cech, as captain, had a busy first half. Cech made an excellent save early on, diving low to his right after Barry’s driven cross was diverted first by Touré and then by Agüero, before parrying a Tévez cross-shot and a miscue from César Azpilicueta.
There was a brief threat when Eden Hazard had a shot cleared off the line by Kompany, with Costel Pantilimon out of his goal, but City’s breakthrough after 35 minutes came as no surprise. A typical surge from midfield took Touré towards the penalty area, laying off the ball for Agüero, who in turn tried to switch play to Nasri.
Azpilicueta blocked Nasri, but, as the ball ran loose, the France midfielder stabbed his shot past Cech to spark a sustained “Poznan” celebration from the City supporters.
Two minutes into the second half, Barry curled over a cross from the right-hand side and, with Azpilicueta and Branislav Ivanovic dozing, Agüero produced a delightful header that looped away from Cech and in off the far post. That seemed to be that.
But Chelsea responded, their equaliser coming within a minute of the introduction of an improving Torres.
The forward did not get a touch on Luiz’s lofted pass, but his mere presence seemed to unsettle Kompany before Ba got in front of Nastasic to produce another of those balletic finishes that went in off the post. Game on.
Transformed not just by the introduction of a second striker but by the arrival of a goal, Chelsea cast aside any thoughts of fatigue as they went in search of the equaliser. With Juan Mata and Eden Hazard growing in influence, Ba had another effort well saved by Pantilimon, while Luiz hit a free kick just wide from 25 yards before the arrival of Javier García seemed to give City some much-needed extra resolve in midfield.
As the clock ticked down, Agüero was guilty of an astonishingly wild challenge on Luiz, for which he somehow escaped without so much as a yellow card. Further frustration followed for Chelsea’s players in the final minutes when Foy rejected their penalty appeal after Torres seemed to be held back by an increasingly rattled Kompany.
In the end, though, City did enough. They performed for at least 60 minutes and Chelsea only for 30. They will be strong favourites to overcome Wigan and in a leading trophy for the third time under Mancini. If anything, the quality they have shown in their past two matches seems to raise some awkward questions about the way that their Premier League title was surrendered over the previous months. There will be a gap in their trophy cabinet by May 11. But not, City will hope, for long.

Referee: C Foy. Attendance: 85,621.


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Mail:

Chelsea 1 Man City 2: Ba's acrobatics can't save Blues as Mancini's men reach final

By IAN LADYMAN

Towards the end of an imperfect season, Roberto Mancini and his Manchester City have managed to engineer a perfect week.
Sunday’s victory may have lacked some of the authority and conviction of the defeat of  Manchester United in the Barclays Premier League last Monday. Indeed, they were hanging on grimly at the end.
Nevertheless, City remain on course for an FA Cup success that would put a veneer of credibility on their season.
Sunday in many ways typified their campaign.
Certainly, we saw the best of them for virtually an hour. They were imperious in establishing a two-goal lead and, with some more measured finishing, could have been out of sight.
However, Chelsea’s comeback was impressive and at times looked as though it might prove too much for their opponents.
City didn’t exactly keep Rafael Benitez’s team at arm’s length during a frantic final 20 minutes and had it not been for two terrific saves from their Romanian goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon and referee Chris Foy’s decision to wave away a seemingly good penalty appeal with three minutes to go, this engrossing game would have moved into extra time.
In west London, they will certainly rue Foy’s  leniency. Substitute Fernando Torres had worried City’s central defenders from the moment he came on with 25 minutes left and Vincent Kompany certainly seemed to have hold of the Spaniard’s shirt as Torres bustled his way into the penalty area.
In moments such as this, games and whole seasons can change.
Certainly, it was the moment Chelsea’s chance of a trophy this season was reduced to one.
It had, in truth, been a niggly  second half and the FA will perhaps have a look at Sergio Aguero’s stamp on David Luiz, even if the City forward was responding to a sly elbow in the chest from his  Brazilian opponent.
Chelsea manager Benitez was admirably restrained. He made it clear that he felt his team should have been given the penalty and left it at that. He deserves credit for his dignity.
What Benitez also said was that his team had lost to a very powerful City side and during the opening hour that was an accurate description. In beating United six days earlier, City had passed their great rivals into the dust at times.
Here, against a team that had travelled to Russia and back in the Europa League last Thursday, they started as though they intended to do the same. Chelsea hardly saw the ball during that period and were fortunate to be only a goal down at the break.
Petr Cech saved wonderfully from an Aguero toe-poke in the seventh minute before denying Carlos  Tevez at the near post after more impressive City interplay. Soon afterwards, Chelsea defenders Branislav Ivanovic and Ryan  Bertrand were required to block shots from Aguero and Tevez before, 11 minutes before half-time, the dam broke.
The driving force behind the goal was the remarkable Yaya Toure.
There are few more powerful  players in world football than the Ivorian and here he surged with thunderous intent towards the Chelsea penalty area from deep.
When Samir Nasri’s attempt to turn his pass inside to Aguero rebounded back at his feet, the Frenchman swept the ball into the net past Cech from eight yards.
It was a thoroughly deserved goal, both for City and for a player  who has picked his game up since  public criticism from his manager a month or so ago.
At this stage, the game hung in the balance. A second goal for City looked set to sink a Chelsea team that had threatened only once, Pantilimon’s nervous dash from his line at a corner allowing Eden Hazard to lob a shot towards goal that Kompany was required to head from the line.
City had more chances before half-time as a James Milner shot hit Aguero when it seemed easier to score in the 40th minute and then Kompany blazed rather  wildly wide at the end of a break of stunning rapidity.
Within two minutes of the restart, though, Mancini’s men had their reward as Gareth Barry’s astute cross saw Aguero peel off the back of Ivanovic and head back across Cech and into the corner.
It was another terrific goal — there were two here from Wigan on Saturday — and it was hard to see Chelsea finding a way back.
Goals do bring about momentum shifts, though, and when Chelsea scored one out of nowhere in the 67th minute, the game changed.
Luiz’s ball from deep shouldn’t have troubled Kompany and Matija Nastasic but it did and Demba Ba’s tumbling finish was typical of him.
City’s response was not great. They may have made more of a couple of breaks but ultimately Pantilimon saw them home with a well-timed stretch to rob Juan Mata of the ball and then a superb reaction save from a close-range shot by Ba.
Ultimately, the reserve goalkeeper emerged as a rather unlikely hero.
He will probably take his place in the final next month. City are merely relieved to be there.

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Mirror:

Chelsea 1-2 Manchester City: Aguero steals headlines as City return to FA Cup Final
Martin Lipton

They will return next month, looking for silverware, not consolation.
A major trophy to bring some reward for a season of under-achievement.
Yet as Sergio Aguero, for the second time in a week, proved the difference between Roberto Mancini’s men and their closest rivals, the Italian conceded his “frustration” that City are not making Manchester United feel the heat.
Aguero’s brilliant header, at the start of a second half that ended up a genuine thriller, ensured City ended Chelsea’s 100 per cent FA Cup record at the new Wembley, tasting defeat after seven straight wins, their first genuine loss in the competition since they were ousted at Barnsley in 2008.
The little Argentine may have finished in the dog-house, lucky that Chris Foy and his assistants missed a two-footed lunge into David Luiz’s backside.
But following on from his ­stunning goal at Old Trafford, the South American star’s other contributions were what gave City the victory they craved, and handed Rafa Benitez a loss which could have mental repercussions for his weary Blues.
While Wigan will have ­something to say about it on May 11, the bookies’ odds of five to one ON City winning the Cup seem fair enough. Some will suggest they could have been handed the old tin pot last night.
That Mancini has ensured they are at their best now the business end of the season has been reached, is unquestioned. For more than an hour, until Demba Ba defied gravity, bio-mechanics and ­geometry to give Chelsea hope, City were utterly dominant, better from back to front.
Vincent Kompany and Matija Nastasic boxed off Chelsea’s threat, Aguero and Carlos Tevez were a constant handful, City had the energy and drive.
And in Yaya Toure, an immense presence, the man who made City tick, who epitomised everything Chelsea lacked until the last throw of the dice.
But there is no real point in being the best side in the country – and City do look that – in the last month of the campaign if it doesn’t count for anything.
In terms of the title, it does not. That ship has long since floated out of port, almost out of sight.
It leaves City playing for second, with every expectation that, like 2011, they will have a trophy of their own even if they will again be in United’s shadow.
That they deserved to win, too, is unquestioned, even if Chelsea were right to ask why Foy failed to spot either Aguero’s assault or Kompany’s tug on Fernando Torres as the substitute burst into the box three minutes from the end.
The opening period was all about Mancini’s side, whose ­intensity levels were far greater than Chelsea’s. Petr Cech made a brilliant reaction save to prevent Aguero diverting Toure’s prod into the bottom corner and then denied Tevez, Branislav Ivanovic and Ryan Bertrand made key blocks as City swarmed forward.
Chelsea, against the run of play, might have stolen the lead as Eden Hazard’s bouncing volley, looping over 6ft 8ins Costel Pantilimon, had not found Kompany alert on the line.
But City did take control 10 minutes before the break. Toure was too strong for Chelsea as he rampaged forward and after interplay involving Tevez and Aguero, Samir Nasri profited from a deflection off Cesar Azpilicueta to slip home.
It could have been more, Aguero – offside – blocking James Milner’s strike, Kompany wide with the goal at his mercy but when Chelsea stood off Gareth Barry soon after the restart, Aguero made them pay, even Cech ­powerless.
All over? So it seemed. But suddenly, out of nothing and seconds after Benitez had sent on Torres, Ba twisted, turned and hooked a bouncing ball in off the post.
Now Chelsea were galvanised, City nervy. Pantilimon plucked the ball off Juan Mata’s feet, Ba thwacked Hazard’s pull-back into the keeper’s chest, Luiz was a fraction wide with a free-kick.
Toure might have had a penalty at the other end, clipped by Hazard as he pulled the trigger, before Aguero ploughed into Luiz, Kompany escaped as Torres demanded blood and a spot-kick.
City will be back. Chelsea are left with only the competition they never wanted to be in.

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Sun:
Shaun Custis

MANCHESTER CITY are spending £45million on a steamroller over the next four years.
And when you see £220,000-a-week Yaya Toure flattening all ahead of him the way he did at Wembley, the midfield wrecking machine is well worth the eye-watering investment.
SunSport revealed how Toure gave the club an ultimatum about a new deal and threatened to quit.
City’s Arab owners knew they could not afford to let their driving force go and caved in.
Happy again — and who wouldn’t be with that deal — Toure will be a vital part of City’s bid to regain the Premier League title and mount a serious Champions League challenge next season.
For now he will be happy with another FA Cup winners’ medal when City will be overwhelming favourites against Wigan in next month’s final.
Toure was the stand-out performer and without him City could have lost.
He was immense as Roberto Mancini’s side dominated the first hour and were cruising at 2-0 up.
Then he was vital in taking the pressure off his embattled defence as holders Chelsea finished strongly and threatened to take it into extra-time.
In the quarter-final they looked dead and buried against Manchester United but recovered to draw 2-2 and win the replay through Demba Ba’s stunner.
And this time, trailing to goals from Samir Nasri and Sergio Aguero, Chelsea found new life again as Ba hooked in another cracker.
Substitute Fernando Torres was screaming for a penalty in the dying minutes, claiming he was held back by skipper Vincent Kompany.
And Chelsea were also fuming that Aguero stayed on the field after clearly stamping with both feet on David Luiz’s backside when they tussled.
With Chelsea having only got back from a sapping trip to Moscow on Friday, boss Rafa Benitez made seven changes to freshen up his side.
But the replacements were way off the pace as City absolutely battered them during the first half.
Keeper Petr Cech made a brilliant save from Aguero and then beat out a narrow angled drive from Carlos Tevez.
Kompany did have to head off the line from Eden Hazard but, by and large, it was all one-way traffic.
Excuses about Chelsea’s tiredness and having to play a 59th game of the season were trotted out by their apologists.
And it was no shock when City took the lead on 35 minutes.
Toure went on one of his surging runs, swatting aside what passed for tackles and played the ball to Aguero.
The Argie striker laid it on for Nasri, who got lucky as his attempted return pass rebounded off Cesar Azpilicueta and the Frenchman fired home.
Right on half-time City should have made it 2-0 when Azpilicueta, who had a bit of a nightmare, lost control and James Milner took off.
The England midfielder’s cross-cum-shot was pushed out by Cech straight to Kompany but the Belgian shot wide.
City doubled their lead in the 47th minute as Gareth Barry picked out Milner, got the ball back and crossed deep for Aguero to loop a header beyond Cech and in off the post.
That seemed to be the end of that as Chelsea were showing next to nothing.
But the moment John Obi Mikel was replaced by Torres, Benitez’s side were a different proposition.
As the Spaniard trotted on to the pitch, Luiz launched a kick forward and, although Torres could not reach it, the bounce deceived Kompany and Ba turned and volleyed in off the post.
It was game on and when Hazard wriggled his way to the goal-line and pulled it back, Ba got there first but his shot was blocked by City keeper Costel Pantilimon.
A dipping free-kick from Luiz was not far away — and then came the controversy.
Luiz tangled with Aguero and thrust an elbow into the Argie’s chest but, as he fell over, Aguero jumped on him and left the Brazilian writhing on the turf.
Aguero escaped even a booking, which annoyed Chelsea’s fans.
But they were fuming not long after as Torres went racing into the area and Kompany wrestled him for possession.
Torres was convinced he should have had a penalty, claiming his shirt was pulled, but the protests got nowhere with referee Chris Foy.
City may be about to surrender their Premier League crown but they are on course to regain the Cup they won in 2011.
The question is, will it be enough to keep Mancini in a job?
Judging by how loudly the City supporters were singing his name yesterday, they clearly think it should be.

DREAM TEAM STAR MAN — YAYA TOURE (Man City)

CHELSEA: Cech 7, Azpilicueta 6, Ivanovic 5, Luiz 6, Bertrand 6, Ramires 6, Mikel 5 (Torres 7), Hazard 6, Mata 7, Ba 6, Oscar 5. Subs not used: Turnbull, Lampard, Moses, Terry, Benayoun, Ake. Booked: Ramires.
MAN CITY: Pantilimon 6, Zabaleta 7, Kompany 8, Nastasic 7, Clichy 6, Milner 7, Y Toure 8, Barry 7, Nasri 7 (Lescott 5), Tevez 7 (Garcia 5), Aguero 7. Subs not used: Hart, Dzeko, Sinclair, Kolarov, K Toure. Booked: Barry, Y Toure, Kompany.
REF: C Foy 6

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Express:

Chelsea 1 - Manchester City 2: City power cuts down Rafa
Tony Banks

One team discovered their mission too late. One knew what they wanted right from the start – and how they were going to get it.
The sight of Manchester City’s Yaya Toure rampaging once again through Chelsea’s weary, desperate defence for the umpteenth time in the final minute at Wembley yesterday will be the abiding image of this FA Cup semi-final.
Toure, the powerhouse who seemed to grow in stature and size as yesterday’s game developed, was the key to this triumph for Roberto Mancini’s men. His surge set up their first goal, neatly taken by Samir Nasri, and he kept the ship steady as Sergio Aguero added a second.
Demba Ba’s 66th-minute strike gave Chelsea hope but they never came close to coping with Ivory Coast star Toure, who was an immense presence throughout the 90 minutes. That is why it is City who will now meet Wigan on May 11 in an all-Lancashire final. A battle of the North-west’s rich and poor.
For Chelsea, despite the late rally, this looked like a game too far. For the first hour of this match – their 59th of this season – they looked a tired and drained side. The tank was empty.
In the end, they left feeling robbed due to referee Chris Foy failing to spot Vincent Kompany’s blatant tug on Spanish striker Fernando Torres – and enraged that the referee took no action over Aguero’s two-footed stamp on David Luiz.
The truth was, though, that over the majority of the 90 minutes, Rafa Benitez’s side were second-best: second to the ball, less firm in the tackle, crucially lacking in fire and invention. Perhaps it is not surprising, having only stepped off the plane from Moscow after a four-hour flight in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Benitez made seven changes from the side that reached the Europa League semi-finals after narrowly overcoming Rubin Kazan. Still, it was not enough. So now it is seven trophies down for Chelsea and only one left to aim for. The dear old Europa League is suddenly quite important.
Plus, of course, the top four and Champions League football for next season. Which is why Benitez must somehow lift his troops once again for Wednesday’s West London derby clash at Fulham. Battered, weary bodies must be dragged over the line once again.
Benitez will have asked himself again last night whether he got his team right, whether he juggled correctly. Should Fernando Torres have been on from the start, should Frank Lampard have come on? Remarkably, this was Chelsea’s first defeat in open play in an FA Cup tie since March 2008, when they lost at Barnsley. They lost a shoot-out against Everton in the fourth round in 2011.
It was the first time in five semi-finals at Wembley they have been beaten – in fact they had won their past 10 matches at the stadium. But right from the kick-off yesterday, it looked like it was coming.
City went into this game having suddenly, after a season of muddle that long ago handed the league title to Manchester United, found their rhythm.
They went into yesterday’s game on the back of six wins in their past seven games. It showed. Mancini’s team bossed the game from the start, as Aguero forced Petr Cech to turn the ball around the post and Carlos Tevez went close. For 25 minutes, Chelsea barely got near the ball

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Star:

CHELSEA 1-MANCHESTER CITY 2:
SERGIO AGUERO SEES OF CHELSEA

By David Woods

THEY played two-thirds of the game like Chelsea pensioners - then finished it like the lions on their badge.
This was an even more extreme version of the previous round’smatch at Old Trafford against Manchester United.
But unlike their neighbours, City held on yesterday after taking a two-goal lead in this thrilling FA Cup semi-final.
At Old Trafford Chelsea were shockingly poor for 45 minutes, then hit back in a sensational second half through Eden Hazard and Ramires.
Yesterday at Wembley they were dreadful for about an hour, then roared into life to help produce one of the best games seen at the national stadium for many a year.
City held out to book a date in the final with Wigan and deserved it for their overwhelming dominance of the vast majority of the game.
So on top were they for the first quarter that the possession statistics were 74 per cent to 26.
Rafa Benitez’s men, playing their sixth game in 15 days, looked like they were running on empty as Samir Nasri in the 35th minute and Sergio Aguero two minutes into the second half looked to have wrapped up the game.
But Demba Ba, whose brilliant volleyed goal in the replay against United put Chelsea through, scored another cracker in the 66th minute to make City jittery.
They held on as Benitez’s men somehow found some reserves of energy to try to hold on to the trophy.
City were so much on top right from the off.
They almost scored in the sixth minute when Gareth Barry’s mishit shot was deflected goalwards by the excellent Yaya Toure and fell to the feet of Aguero.
But Cech – whose wonder save from United’s Javier Hernandez a fortnight ago ensured they reached this semi-final – showed excellent reactions again to get down low to his right to turn the Argentinian’s stabbed, close-range shot for a corner.
It was nearly all City, although Vincent Kompany did have to head off the line when Hazard drove a shot into the ground and over a host of players, including keeper Costel Pantilimon.
City’s almost inevitable goal came after Toure tore at the Chelsea backline once again and picked out Aguero in the box.
The striker tried to lay the ball into the path of Nasri and – thanks to a lucky deflection off Cesar Azpilicueta – that’s where it eventually ended up.
Nasri needed no second invitation and from about eight yards the Frenchman smashed the ball across Cech into the corner.
It was the ex-Arsenal star’s first strike since scoring at Ajax in the Champions League in October and only his fourth of the season, if you include the winning goal in the 3-2 Community Shield win over Chelsea back in August.
City should have had another when James Milner outmuscled Ramires but failed to pick out the unmarked Aguero.
Instead, Cech pushed the ball straight to Kompany who sliced wide.
The second half started appallingly for Chelsea with Aguero making it 2-0 after Barry’s left-foot cross from the right found the City No.16 in behind Azpilicueta, and his looping header deceived Cech and went in off the keeper’s left-hand post.
Torres came on for John Obi Mikel in the 66th minute and within seconds the intelligence of not doing a straight swap for Ba was shown.
David Luiz’s long ball evaded Kompany and dropped for Ba, who evaded his marker Matija Nastasic and the striker hooked a shot away from Pantilimon and in off the far post.
Ba kissed the Wembley turf in delight at scoring the first goal against City in the competition this season.
City had squandered numerous chances early in the half as they seemed set to capitalise on tired Chelsea legs but the final ball was never quite right.
And it seemed like they might pay the price as the west Londoners surged forward in search of an equaliser.
Torres had two appeals for penalties, one for a challenge by Pantilimon and another for a check by Kompany, but ref Chris Foy was unmoved.
But that crucial bit of dynamic power was, unsurprisingly, not there for Chelsea.
City now are hot favourites for the trophy.
Chelsea still have the Europa League but Wednesday’s Premier League clash at Fulham is almost certainly more important.
Lose that and the Champions League next season looks a major doubt.
And where the energy will come from is the big worry for the club and their fans.