Chelsea waste FA Cup chance as Nicolas Jackson lets Man City off the hook

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Chelsea's run of bad luck at Wembley continues, proving that it's as certain as death and taxes. To Mr. Jackson, it's clear that this outcome is his responsibility, and he should express his apologies for this tragic performance repeatedly.

Manchester City were in a bad shape, having received many bruises, and were easy to beat, similar to how Liverpool were struggling two months ago. Chelsea weren't simply creating normal chances, but were making crucial goal-scoring opportunities frequently.

However, in a similar fashion to Liverpool's victory in the Carabao Cup final where they managed to score a crucial goal in the last moment despite being dominated throughout the game, Bernardo Silva was able to sneak in at the back of the post and score a goal six minutes before the end. This secured the FA Cup holders' place in next month's final and maintained Manchester City's chances of winning the domestic double.

Chelsea and Nicolas Jackson are having a season full of comedy and misfortune that Amazon will regret not capturing on camera. Their streak of bad luck doesn't seem to be ending anytime soon.

City has easily made it to this point in the competition during Guardiola's tenure, but the last four has been a major obstacle for the successful coach, unlike his impressive records in the league and League Cup.

Guardiola has led City to six semi-finals in the past, but they have only made it to the final twice. Unfortunately, three of their four semi-final defeats have been at the hands of London teams.

After witnessing his team being worn out by a grueling Real Madrid, which reminded him of the epic win against Manchester United in the previous season's final, one would assume that the meticulous boss of City would have restructured his team to give some rest to his tired soldiers by assigning midfielders to defense positions and vice versa.

Surprisingly, Guardiola made only three substitutions of similar players when Erling Haaland couldn't play due to injury. As a result, City appeared to be very slow and out of form. If Jackson had taken advantage of the opportunities to score that he missed, the dark blue team would have been far ahead by the 50th minute.

As soon as the game began, Kyle Walker appeared to be moving very slowly and clumsily, allowing the star player Cole Palmer to take advantage of the open spaces that Guardiola’s team needs to succeed. Palmer, a graduate from City's academy, passed the ball to Jackson who took a shot that unfortunately missed the goal, but it was clear that they were showing promise for the future.

Jackson's situation deteriorated after that. During his first slapstick comedy sketch, he managed to break through with an Enzo Fernandez pass. Despite having only Ortega to beat, he failed to even attempt a shot at the goal. He rounded Ortega and turned back before his pullback was stopped. Clearly, he lacked confidence as a player.

During the game, Phil Foden made a move past the Chelsea goalkeeper, Djordje Petrovic, but he was unable to hit the goal successfully because he was pressured to go too far to the side. This allowed Marc Cucurella to jump up and prevent Foden's attempt from scoring.

In the first half, City did not perform well and it was the best they could do. De Bruyne wasn't at his usual high level and lacked energy. The only significant thing he did was deflecting a shot from Julian Alvarez, which almost resulted in a goal for the opposition team. De Bruyne is usually the driving force of City's relentless attacks.

Returning to the topic of Nicolas Jackson's performance, the Senegalese forward was given a clear opportunity to score against the struggling City team shortly after halftime. However, his shot was quite subpar and would have been more appropriate for a lower-tier competition like the FA Trophy. To make matters worse, his attempt at a header from Palmer's accurate pass just seconds later was even more disappointing.

Even though the players from City seemed to be struggling, they were still able to pose a danger to the opposition team without moving too much. Foden tried to score, but the goalkeeper made a great save. Later on, when substitute Jeremy Doku had a chance, Petrovic blocked his shot with his legs.

It seemed like the holders were not capable of winning or making a significant offensive move, despite Guardiola making some substitutions. However, this is Chelsea, and appearances can be deceiving.

In the last few minutes of the game, Silva scored a goal that was not very skillful. The ball was redirected by Petrovic's foot when De Bruyne crossed it, and Silva was able to score. Even though it was not a great goal, Guardiola was happy because it came after a recent loss that could have hurt their chances of winning many trophies this season.

Mauricio Pochettino and his main striker have a lot of anxiety ahead as they try to keep their chances of winning two domestic titles alive.