Man City’s double dream endures – but the Wizard of Waste gave them a huge helping hand to beat Chelsea and reach the FA Cup final, writes OLIVER HOLT

The dream of the double treble disappeared with defeat to Real Madrid in the penalty shootout at the Etihad on Wednesday night, but the dream of the double double lives on. In an era of Manchester City’s supremacy in English football, it is a measure of their dominance that the prospect of such a feat seems like an anti-climax.

THIS shouldn’t be. City’s consistency is remarkable. They were far from their best at Wembley against a Chelsea side who had enough chances to beat them twice, but they found a way to win, as they so often do, and a late winner of Bernardo Silva earned them their place in the final. at the end of next month against Manchester United or Coventry City.

Football can be cruel, but football heals too, and there was something beautiful about Silva getting the victory. It was his penalty, so comfortably saved by Madrid goalkeeper Andriy Lunin during the penalty shootout, which was the symbol of this devastating defeat. Now he was the hero again.

City’s story rests more on their attempt to become the first English team to win the First Division title four times in a row. But, despite the systematic efforts of the Premier League and the FA to destroy the competition, it retains considerable cachet. her own. This was clearly reflected in the joy of City’s celebrations after the match.

It was hard not to feel a certain sympathy for the Chelsea supporters, who had given their team such brilliant support in difficult circumstances. Time and time again, they saw their attackers waste clear chances to score. By the end of the second half, their frustration was at its peak. It was hard to blame them.

Pep Guardiola’s side recovered from midweek disappointment against Real Madrid

It’s no wonder Nicolas Jackson was so desperate to take that penalty in Chelsea’s 6-0 win over Everton recently. Based on this evidence, there’s little chance he’ll score any other way. His performance was not without merit against City but in front of goal, he was the magician of waste.

The game, in general, was hardly a classic. The city looked tired. Chelsea just weren’t good enough to win. If Cole Palmer had a better supporting cast they might have had a chance but there’s no one on his level.

For the occasion, well, there were plenty of empty seats. When the FA and Premier League, who dealt another blow to the competition by scrapping replays from the first round last week, have no respect or love for the FA Cup, what do they expect ? The stench of that decision still hung over this match.

Chelsea almost got into trouble in the first two minutes. Marc Cucurella completed a pass to Thiago Silva in his own area who caught Silva on his heels. The ball looked like it was going towards Julian Alvarez, but as he got closer, Silva stretched to make a saving tackle.

City had their own chance after a quarter of an hour when De Bruyne slipped a brilliant reverse ball to Phil Foden, who beat the offside trap and took the ball around Djordje Petrovic. The ball was simply too wide for Foden to head home and when he sent a cross towards goal it was headed off the line by Cucurella.

Chelsea had reasonable possession, but City made the most of the chances in what appeared to be a lukewarm first half. Jack Grealish lifted a cross to the far post which Bernardo Silva pushed past Petrovic. Two things stopped it being a goal: another last-minute clearance from Cucurella and a linesman’s flag on Foden.

It took Chelsea half an hour to properly threaten City’s defense, but when they did, they created the best chance of the game so far. Nicolas Jackson collected a long ball from Enzo Fernandez, beat City’s offside trap and advanced past Stefan Ortega.

Nicolas Jackson was the magician of waste as he and Chelsea missed the chance to end City’s double dream.

Moises Caicedo was lucky to escape a red card for this horrific challenge on Jack Grealish, who was sent off

Chelsea took on City and created several chances to go ahead

Jackson, who possesses the qualities of pace and prodigality in equal measure, rounded the City keeper but then lost his composure. Instead of rolling the ball into the goal, he stepped back and looked for a teammate. He delayed too long and by the time he played the ball, Nathan Ake had come back to throw it. Chelsea fans were furious.

It didn’t take long for Chelsea to threaten City’s goal again. This time, it was the work of Cole Palmer, who established himself beyond any reasonable doubt as the best player on his team. Palmer forced his way past Rodri into the box with the kind of cheekiness that makes the soul leap and tried to bend his shot into the corner only for Ortega to push it away.

Jackson started the second half like he played the first: missed opportunities. Perhaps it’s unfair to criticize him too harshly because his running with the ball and his build-up play were excellent. But his finishing was criminally poor.

He missed two great chances in the space of around twenty seconds. First, Gallagher got past Rodri and played Jackson through on goal. Jackson tried to get his shot around Ortega but he was too close to him and hit too weak.

The ball was recycled and crossed, delightfully, to the far post by Palmer where Jackson was waiting. Once he connected, it seemed impossible that he wouldn’t score, but he headed the ball down and the rebound gave Ortega time to react and slap him away.

At the other end, Foden saw a good chance saved by Petrovic before City survived Chelsea’s furious appeals for a penalty when a Palmer free-kick went through the defensive wall and appeared to clip Grealish on the arm. VAR checked the incident and ruled it was not a penalty.

Chelsea missed another clear chance when a clever pass from Palmer sent Moises Caicedo clear on the right. Jackson was screaming to get the ball in the middle but, perhaps understandably, Caicedo seemed hesitant about whether to pass to him. In the end, he half crossed it and half passed straight into touch.

Just when the match had fallen into a dreary stalemate and looked destined for extra time, City forced the winner. De Bruyne escaped down the left and drilled a cross into the penalty area. Petrovic deflected it with his left foot but it fell straight to Bernardo Silva, who smashed it towards goal. Cucurella lunged at it but could only deflect the ball into the net.

Football can be cruel, but Silva made amends for his poor penalty against Real Madrid in midweek

Erling Haaland was absent due to injury, but City found their way through the match without him.

Mykhailo Mudryk badly overshot a free-kick and frustrated Chelsea fans left in droves after that.

Chelsea just had time to waste one last golden chance. Jackson made a nice layoff to replace Ben Chilwell on the left, but Chilwell ignored Raheem Sterling as he sprinted to the left. As he started to play the pass, it was cut off by a City defender.

When Chelsea were awarded a free kick in a dangerous wide position in the final seconds of the eighth minute of added time, Mykhailo Mudryk hit it so hard that he almost took a throw-in. Many Chelsea fans have finally seen enough. They got up and headed towards the exit en masse.