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Football

16th Apr 2022

Man City concede utterly bizarre goal to go 2-0 down in FA Cup semi-final

Liverpool raced into an early 2-0 lead in Saturday's FA Cup semi-final, as stand-in goalkeeper Zack Steffen failed to clear his lines before Mané got to him

Reuben Pinder

Just kick it away, mate

Liverpool raced into an early two-goal lead against Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-final on Saturday, thanks to a goalkeeping gaffe from Zack Steffen.

The American, who replaced Ederson between the sticks having played in City’s previous FA Cup fixtures, failed the dig the ball out of his feet and clear the danger before Sadio Mané closed him down and forced the goal.

The error compounded what was already a disappointing start from a heavily rotated City team, having conceded a towering header from Ibrahima Konaté in the ninth minute.

At the time of writing, Liverpool have dominated the first half an hour, enjoying a slim majority of possession and preventing City from creating any chances of real worth.

City, meanwhile, lining up in a strangely arranged 4-4-2 system, are evidently missing Kyle Walker and Kevin de Bruyne, both of whom miss the game through injury.

One shouldn’t assume the game is done and dusted though – lest we forget the same fixture last weekend ended 2-2.