Lack of depth has been a recent concern for City, however Mancini was able to call on the fit-again Nigel de Jong, and Subbuteo Wright-Phillips for this match — the latter of which showing a glimpses of the form that made him a terrace favourite for many years. It was fitting that the by far the best two players on the pitch were involved for the goal, with Maicon Richards nodding home a David Silva corner to ensure progression.
"It felt amazing," he declared, thankfully managing not to swear unlike last time the defender scored a header from a corner in the FA Cup.
"To come through the youth academy and to get us so far in the competition is an unbelievable feeling. We have United in the semis, which makes it more special. We can't wait."
"It makes it more interesting. If we want to win the competition we have to beat the best." Richards whooped, whilst wearing his favourite sequined fur robe.
Richards wasn't the only one getting all giddy about the prospect, with the club releasing a range of Wembley-inspired merch just minutes after the final whistle. There's nothing that says "small-time" like a piece of cheap commemorative tat to celebrate the fact that we're not quite as shit as we used to be.
It's foam hands this season, next we'll be shouting "DE-FENSE! DE-FENSE!" when the opposition has the ball. An oversized thumbs down from me.
Man City are my favourite soccer ball team. We're number one! USA! USA!
The (over) commercialisation of the game is not something limited to clubs of course. The fact fans of two teams from Manchester (and surrounds) will have to spend an inordinate amount on tickets, as well as an inordinate amount on train/fuel to travel all the way to Wemberleeeeeee for a cup semi-final is ridiculous.
I mean, if we have to travel miles from Manchester to a soulless dump full of cockneys and day-trippers, couldn't they just have held it at Old Trafford? (Insert obvious joke about 'it may as well be a home game for them if it's in London' here).
The semi-final will be played on the weekend of 16/17 April, which is when the match between Manchester City and Tottenham is due to take place.
And in an amazing piece of segue and a disgraceful piece of shameless self-promotion: voting is still open in the Etihad Coming Home competition, where two Lesson In Pride contributors and Sydney Blues regulars, Matt and Gav, have a one-in-eight chance of seeing that aforementioned City/Spurs game live at Eastlands. But we need your votes to make it happen!
So if you like what we do, we'd really like you to vote for us (if you haven't done so already). You've wasted five minutes reading the rest of the post, so please waste another minute of your time clicking the link below and voting for Matt Coleman.
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