Guardiola: ‘No Time’ for Celebration as City Focus on Premier League Title

Pep Guardiola said Manchester City would not have “even one beer” to celebrate their 1-0 FA Cup final victory over Chelsea on Saturday, citing the ongoing Premier League title race, while the manager remained noncommittal about his future at the club.

Antoine Semenyo’s 72nd-minute backheel secured City’s second trophy of the season at Wembley, following April’s Carabao Cup win over Arsenal.

City travel to Bournemouth on Tuesday for their penultimate league match requiring a win to keep their title challenge alive, and Guardiola made clear there would be no time for celebrations.

“Home [now] – not even one beer,” he said. “Next Monday after Aston Villa, we’re going to celebrate it with the women’s team. The club said that to me [with] some parade in Manchester because we must celebrate with both teams.”

“There is no time [to celebrate]. Chelsea had seven days to prepare for the final, we had three days and yesterday [Friday] was a nightmare. We spent six hours from the city to here. The trains are a little bit of a problem in this country.”

Arsenal, who host Burnley on Monday, lead the table with 79 points, two ahead of City with one game in hand. City host Aston Villa on the final Sunday, while Arsenal travel to Crystal Palace.

Amid speculation about Guardiola’s future, he offered an opaque response when asked if he would remain at the club. “The moment the fire decreases, then we will go home. I am a funny guy,” he said. “This year I have been really good. Last season was the toughest season for many reasons.”

Saturday’s win marked the 20th piece of silverware in Guardiola’s decade at City, including three Community Shields.

City had lost the past two FA Cup finals, and Guardiola pointed to officiating as decisive. He said: “I had a feeling last season against Palace and two seasons before against United that we were better than today, but in these type of games the margins were so minor. The decisions always make the difference and now I’m sitting here as the winner. Otherwise it would be Calum [McFarlane].”

“This trophy is really cool, really special for its tradition and after the two defeats, back to Manchester with it is nice.”

Of his goal, Semenyo said: “It has happened a couple of times in training – it happened perfectly today. Everything happened so fast. It came straight to me and I had to improvise as quickly as I can.”

Semenyo joined City from Bournemouth in January and has since won the Carabao Cup and FA Cup. He said: “I have never competed for trophies like this before, so everything is new. Hopefully, we can finish the job off [in the league].”

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“As a kid I have always wanted to be playing for the top teams – it took a long time to get there, but I am grateful. The first thing he [Guardiola] said to me when I came was: ‘Don’t change your game’,” Semenyo added.

Chelsea manager Calum McFarlane believed his team should have been awarded a penalty when Jorrel Hato went down under Abdukodir Khusanov’s challenge in the second half. “They are tough calls, but for me the collision is a foul. Jorrel gets in front and there is contact,” he said.

McFarlane was proud of Chelsea’s performance despite the defeat. “We went toe-to-toe with one of the best teams in the world and there was very little between them. You have momentum if you can get that moment of quality and go in front. We just didn’t manage to do that. We know what this team is capable of.”