Manchester City are bidding to get their hands on the FA Cup for the seventh time

Manchester City and Liverpool must forget about their Premier League title tussle this afternoon as they bid to book a place in the FA Cup final. 

The two best sides in English football collide at Wembley knowing they are win away from booking a return to next month to face either Chelsea or Crystal Palace. 

Ahead of what promises to be a blockbuster occasion, we take a look at City’s record in the last-four stage of the football’s oldest domestic cup competition.

Since the inaugural FA Cup final in 1872, which saw Wanderers beat the Royal Engineers 1-0 at Kennington Oval, the Manchester giants have appeared in no less than 16 semi-finals — winning 11 and losing five. 

Wednesday the first

Their first semi-final came in 1904 when they defeated Sheffield Wednesday 3-0 before overcoming Bolton 1-0 in the final — the first of six FA Cups for the blue side of Manchester. 

City lost to Newcastle in the semis in 1924 but they did manage to defeat rivals Manchester United 3-0 in the last-four stage two years later before losing to Bolton 1-0 in the final. 

A second semi-final loss came at the hands of Arsenal in 1932, with City going down 1-0 in that encounter.

They defeated Derby 3-2 12 months later, only to then lose 3-0 to Everton in the final. 

In 1934, City thrashed Aston Villa 6-1 in the semi-finals before edging past Portsmouth 2-1 at Wembley to lift the trophy for the second time in their history. 

Long wait

The City faithful had to wait 21 years for the club’s next FA Cup semi-final appearance. 

They defeated Sunderland 1-0 but were outdone in the final and ended up losing 3-1 to Newcastle. 

The Citizens made up for that disappointment 12 months later as they lifted the trophy, beating Birmingham 3-1 after knocking out Tottenham 1-0 in the previous round.

It was 1969 when City next won the FA Cup, edging Everton 1-0 in the semi-finals before beating Leicester by the same score.

More than a decade later, the Citizens beat Ipswich 1-0 in the semi-finals in 1981 before losing 3-2 to Tottenham in a replay. 

Back in the big time

Yaya Toure scored the decisive goal to help City beat United in the FA Cup semi-finals in 2011

It was some 30 years later when the Citizens were next in semi-final action. 

They defeated Manchester United at Wembley to reach the final, where they beat Stoke 1-0 at the national stadium. 

City also reached the final in 2013, defeating Chelsea in the last four before famously being undone by Wigan in the final — Ben Watson scoring the only goal.

In 2017, City lost to Arsenal 2-1 after extra-time in the semi-finals but they made amends for that loss two years later, seeing off Brighton 1-0 in the semis before thrashing Watford 6-0 in the final. 

Unfortunately for Pep Guardiola’s men, they have suffered back-to-back semi-final defeats since last lifting the trophy. 

They suffered a 2-0 defeat to Arsenal in 2020 before going down 1-0 at the hands of Chelsea last year. 

Of the six semi-finals that City have played at Wembley, they have a record of three wins and three defeats. 

Today will be the fourth straight FA Cup semi-final the Citizens have played in as they continue their bid to lift the trophy for the seventh time. 

City’s semi-final FA Cup record

FA Cup semi-final appearances: 16 

Won: 11 (1904, 1926, 1933, 1934, 1955, 1956, 1969, 1981, 2011, 2013, 2019) 

Lost: Five (1924, 1932, 2017, 2020, 2021) 

City’s FA Cup final record

Six-time winners (1904, 1934, 1956, 1969, 2011, 2019) 

Five-time runners-up (1926, 1933, 1955, 1981, 2013)

Source: Livescore.