AFC Bournemouth were denied a trip to Wembley, as Manchester City produced a second half comeback, to beat the Cherries 2-1 in the quarterfinals of the FA Cup.
Goals from first Erling Haaland, and then his replacement Omar Marmoush, helped Pep Guardiola’s side come from behind, to reach yet another semi-final.
Haaland had seen an early penalty saved by Kepa Arrizabalaga, before Evanilson gave Bournemouth a first half lead.
However, the Cherries were outclassed after the break and failed to register a single shot in the second period.
The result means that Man City will face Nottingham Forest in the semi-final, whilst Bournemouth return to league action against Ipswich on Wednesday evening.
Andoni Iraola made three changes to the Cherries side which were beaten 2-1 by Brentford before the international break.
With Dean Huijsen and Milos Kerkez both missing through suspension, Julio Soler was given his second ever Bournemouth start, with Marcos Senesi coming straight back into the starting XI on his return from injury.
Marcus Tavernier was omitted from the squad completely, and the winger was replaced by David Brooks in the starting lineup, with Adam Smith making his long-awaited return to the bench.
City had the first real opportunity of the game when Haaland met Matheus Nunes’ cross just six yards out, but the forwards could only direct his header wide of Kepa’s right hand post.
Moments later, the away side were given a golden chance to take the lead, when Bernado Silva’s chipped cross struck the outstretched hand of Tyler Adams, and referee Michael Salisbury pointed to the spot.
Haaland stepped up, but was denied superbly by Kepa, the Spanish shot stopper getting down to his left-hand side to keep out the spot kick.
The Norwegian then looked destined to make amends for the miss, as he bursted through on goal two minutes later, but he lifted his chip inches over the bar.
The Cherries were buoyed by the misses, and with Dean Court rocking, Semenyo fired in a shot, stinging the palms of Ederson.
As the clock ticked past the 20-minute mark, Bournemouth capitalised on Haaland’s wastefulness. Brooks whipped in a deep cross to Kluivert, who knocked the ball back across goal, and Evanilson was on hand to tap home from the goal line.
The chances kept coming for both sides, Kepa made another smart stop, as he palmed away Gundogan’s low effort from the edge of the area, before Semenyo flashed one across the face of goal down the other end.
Abdukodir Khushanov was given the first booking of the contest for tripping Kluivert as the Dutchman broke through, with both the centre back and Nunes at left back struggling to cope with Bournemouth’s attacking quality.
The Cherries should’ve doubled their lead from the resulting free kick, Christie curled the set piece into a dangerous area, but no one in a red and black shirt could get on the end of it.
Just before the half time whistle, Kevin De Bruyne found some space on the edge of the Bournemouth area, but his effort sailed over the bar, summing up the away side’s first period.
Just three minutes after half time, the visitors were level. Full back Nico O’ Reilly was introduced at the break by Guardiola and had an instant impact, bursting down the left-hand side and finding Haaland at the back post, who finally got himself on the scoresheet, finishing right footed into an empty net.
James Hill and Dango Ouattara were thrown into the action by Iraola, replacing Soler and Brooks. Shortly after, City’s goal scorer Haaland was forced off with a knee injury, and Marmoush came on in his place.
Once again, the substitution worked immediately. Semenyo slipped on the edge of his own box, allowing O’Reilly to find Marmoush in the area, and the Egyptian’s shot squirmed under Kepa and into the net.
Marmoush almost had two in two minutes, when his header looked destined to give City a third, but Senesi was able to clear off the line.
The visitors had real control of the contest after taking the lead, and Gundogan almost wrapped it up with a left footed effort, but his shot cannoned back off the post.
The chances continued coming for City, with Kepa brilliantly thwarting substitute James McAtee at close range, keeping the Cherries in the game.
However, the visitors managed the rest of the contest well, and sailed through to the full time whistle without a scare.