Liverpool are through to the FA Cup final after beating Manchester City 3-2 in the semi-finals at Wembley Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
An Ibrahima Konate header and a brace from Sadio Mane put the Reds into a deserved three-goal lead at the break, and although City pulled two goals back through Jack Grealish and Bernardo Silva, Jurgen Klopp's side held on to reach their first FA Cup final since 2012 and keep their quadruple hopes alive.
While last weekend's Premier League encounter between the two sides was an enthralling closely-fought contest, the Wembley showdown was dominated by Liverpool, particularly in the first half, as they were both clinical in front of goal and handed chances on a plate by City's lacklustre backline.
Liverpool opened the scoring in the ninth minute when the first corner of the game was whipped in by Trent Alexander-Arnold onto the head of Konate, who towered above Nathan Ake to put the Reds in front.
Goalkeeper Zack Steffen was one of seven changes Pep Guardiola made to his starting lineup - which also saw Kevin De Bruyne benched and Kyle Walker not involved due to respective injury concerns - but the American stopper had a day to forget between the sticks as he was at fault for the next two goals that Liverpool scored.
Klopp's men doubled their lead in the 17th minute when a hesitant Steffen was charged down by Mane inside the six-yard box before the latter slid the ball home from close range.
On the stroke of half time, Mane netted his second and Liverpool's third when he fizzed a volley into the bottom-right corner, catching Steffen at his near post and putting Liverpool into a commanding three-goal lead at the break.
City responded immediately within the first two minutes of the second half, when Gabriel Jesus set up Grealish inside the area, with the former Aston Villa man placing a left-footed strike beyond Allison Becker to provide a glimmer of hope for the Citizens supporters.
Alisson was called into action twice midway through the second 45 and made two vital saved to keep out Jesus, who wasted two glorious opportunities to pull another goal back.
Just as the fourth official put four minutes of stoppage time up on the board, Bernardo Silva found the net after substitute Riyad Mahrez weaved his way into the box to set up the Portuguese playmaker for a close-range tap in.
However, it was the Reds who prevailed and claimed a deserved victory at Wembley, with Chelsea awaiting them in the final on May 14.
Oliver Thomas
