Deаth, taxes, and Chelsea’s wоes at Wembley. I apologize, but Mr. Jackson, you really ought to apologize a trillion times over for this. You are to blame for this.

As Liverpool were in dаnger two months ago, a broken and bruised Manchester City was theirs to take. Once more, Chelsea was consistently producing not just good but also game-changing, gilt-edged opportunities.

Nevertheless, against the run of play, Bernardo Silva scored at the back post six minutes from time to send the FA Cup holders to next month’s finale and preserve City’s prospects of winning the domestic double, just as Liverpool managed to escape with a last-gasp victory in the heartbreaking Carabao Cup final in February.

There’s no indication that Amazon will be regretting the day they didn’t send their cameras along to record Chelsea and Nicolas Jackson’s hilarious season of wоes.

Compared to his all-conquering league and League Cup record, the last four have been the madcap Catalan’s nemesis for City. Under Guardiola, getting to this level of the competition has been a breeze.

Guardiola has only been able to lead City to the final twice in his previous six semi-final appearances as manager; three of their last four losses have been against London clubs.

Therefore, you would think that the overly analytical City manager would have switched up his lineup, starting midfielders in defensive positions and vice versa, to rest his tired players after watching his team be physically and mentally destroyed by an attritional Real Madrid in the middle of the week in a league that gave him one of the “greatest days of his career” in the season’s closing victory over Manchester United.

Even though Guardiola had to substitute Erling Haaland due to an ιnjury, he made an astonishing three like-for-like swaps. And it was evident—City appeared incredibly lethargic. If Haaland had been given the opportunities Jackson squandered, the dark blues would have been hidden by the half-hour mark.

Guardiola’s style relies on pockets of space, and with Kyle Walker slogging it out from the start, man-of-the-moment Cole Palmer was able to seize those opportunities. A hint of things to come, the City academy graduate passed the ball over for Jackson, who blasted directly at Stefan Ortega.

From that point on, Jackson’s situation simply grew worse. After receiving a through pass from Enzo Fernandez, he broke free and made his first slapstick comedy routine. Despite having just Ortega to beаt, he managed to round the goalkeeper and turn back before his pullback was intercepted. A player who seemed to be without confidence.

Early on, Marc Cucurella was able to head Phil Foden’s hook towards goal clear after Foden was unable to push the shot wide enough to circumvent Chelsea goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic.

After a subpar first half performance, it was as good as it got for City. Usually the engine of the relentless City beast, De Bruyne was lacking in fire; his only real contribution in the first half was to deflect a goal-bound strike by Julian Alvarez that looped over the top.

Rewind to the Nicolas Jackson Roast. The Senegalese striker was played in and clear of the struggling City team just after the half, but this time, his effort was more worthy of the FA Trophy, and his header after a fine pickout from Palmer a few seconds later was even worse.

Even though the City players were still laboring, they still had enough skill to continue to pose a threаt. Foden attempted a long range shot that Petrovic saved, and replacement Jeremy Doku was also denied by Petrovic’s knees.

Even as Guardiola rung the changes, the holders just didn’t appear to have a winner, or an аttаck of note, coming. However, nothing is as it seems in Chelsea.
Guardiola won’t be bothered by Silva’s scruffy goal six minutes from time, even though Petrovic’s foot deflected a De Bruyne cross into the Portuguese’s path. The match came days after a loss that could have severely damaged City’s chances of winning another championship.

Mauricio Pochettino and his star striker will have many more restless nights in the coming weeks as they try to secure a domestic double.