"Going to play in semifinal for sure!" - Guardiola confirms star's participation in FA Cup S/F after Manchester City's win over Bournemouth

Pep Guardiola has confirmed that Nico O’Reilly will play in the FA Cup semifinal for Manchester City after the young star impressed in a 2-1 comeback victory over Bournemouth. The 20-year-old was introduced off the bench at half-time with City behind and helped turn the tie around to secure a seventh consecutive semifinal place for the Premier League holders.

City had trailed against the run of play when Evanilson scored midway through the first half (21'), shortly after Erling Haaland had missed a penalty. The Norwegian striker, who squandered chances during the first half, finally got on the scoresheet four minutes after the break when O’Reilly assisted him with a cross (49').

Soon after, though, Haaland went off with an ankle injury, and his replacement, Omar Marmoush, scored the winner (63'). Again, it was from an incisive pass by O’Reilly, capping an excellent FA Cup display from the midfielder. The 20-year-old now has three goals and two assists from four appearances in the competition this season.

After the game, Pep Guardiola heaped praise on O’Reilly’s impact and insisted that the youngster would get more playing time:

"Nico scored two goals against Plymouth and the impact today was outstanding. He's going to play in semi-final for sure!"

Manchester City will meet Nottingham Forest at Wembley on April 26 for their semifinal clash.

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Pep Guardiola concedes Manchester City's season is a failure

Pep Guardiola said this season for Manchester City is a failure, no matter how it goes in the FA Cup. Although they reached the FA Cup semifinals and could yet qualify for Europe next season, the City boss is adamant that it has been a long way below the standards the club expects.

He said (via GOAL):

"Of course it would be nice to arrive in the final of the FA Cup and win it, and qualify for the Champions League. I am pretty sure that right now it would be seen as a big success - but the season has been poor and it's not going to change. Our standards and many things were not good and that is the reality."

"Of course we want to do it so we have one more (trophy). But how we behave this season is not going to change, even if we qualify for the Champions League and win the FA Cup," Guardiola added.

Manchester City’s problems started with a season-ending knee injury to Rodri in September. The Ballon d’Or winner’s absence exposed a tactical gap in midfield, one Guardiola has been unable to fill reliably. Mateo Kovacic and others have played in his position, but none have had Rodri's defensive impact.