Manchester City secured their place in the FA Cup final after comfortably defeating Sheffield United 3-0 in the semifinals. Riyad Mahrez was the hero of the day, scoring a hattrick and leading City to victory.
Despite being one of the best teams in Europe while Sheffield United is fighting for promotion in England's second tier, the game was not entirely one-sided. The Blades kept the scores level for much of the first half and even had their own chance to take the lead early on.
But Manchester City won a penalty in the 43rd minute, which Mahrez converted, and the outcome seemed clear from there. Just after halftime, Mahrez scored his second goal of the game, a beautiful strike after he won possession on the halfway line, wove his way past the Sheffield defense, and fired the ball into the net.
Five minutes later, Mahrez had his hattrick, becoming the first player to score a hattrick in an FA Cup semifinal since 1958. Latching onto Jack Grealish's cross, Mahrez made no mistake with the finish.
"It feels very good to score a hattrick," Mahrez said in a post-match interview. "The most important thing is that two or three seasons in a row, we've come here in the semifinals and lost. Today, we wanted to make sure we got to the final. I think I had a good game. It's a good team achievement, and we took the game seriously."
City's treble hopes are still alive, and they will now face either Manchester United or Brighton & Hove Albion in the FA Cup final on June 3. Despite resting some key players ahead of Wednesday's Premier League clash against Arsenal, Pep Guardiola's side displayed an excellent performance, and Mahrez's hattrick undoubtedly stole the show.