Gabriel Jesus’ early strike separated the sides at Wembley Stadium to book our place in May’s showpiece, in a tense affair of few chances, as City march on in the hunt for an unprecedented Quadruple.
Although Guardiola cooled talk of an historic four-trophy haul, the Catalan boss expressed his pride for his players’ spirit and determination to succeed on all fronts, until the very end.
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Reflecting on the triumph at Wembley – and his first FA Cup Final spot, he said: “I am happy to be in the Final.
“We extend our season by one more week and we are happy for that.
“For the first ten or 15 minutes of the second half, we were worried. After that, no.
“They are dangerous. It was tough. It’s a semi-final; they are incredible defensively; well-organised and we knew that set-pieces were huge for them. We didn’t concede too many – just one dangerous situation.
“We are happy to be in the Final, after winning two titles this season. We are now in the Final of the other and in the other two competitions, we are there.
“It’s almost impossible to win the Quadruple. Surviving is a miracle and it’s nice to be there.
“My opinion is that nobody has done it so why can we do it? It is almost impossible to achieve everything – that is the truth.
“We are losing players every game with tiredness or injuries but still we will try to do it. It’s incredible what these players have done so far, and we are going to try and win every game until the end.
“Today, we didn’t ‘conserve energy’. If it’s 3-0 of 4-0, then fine – but this was absolutely open until the referee said it was the end.
“When you achieve 100 points, you cannot repeat that. The following season, there is a tendency to be arrogant but we are still there.
“No team can perform fantastically for every single game. Sir Alex Ferguson won the treble with United and not every game was like that. It doesn’t work in that way.
“The important thing is that we have won two titles this season and we are second in the Premier League. We did it.
“I first have to live (winning the FA Cup) before I can tell you how it will feel for me personally!
“I don’t know what condition we will arrive to the Final in but we are happy to be there.”
On the subject of his players’ fitness, Guardiola provided updates on Sergio Aguero (who missed the semi-final clash), Benjamin Mendy (who made his return from injury) and Kyle Walker (who was substituted at half-time).
On Aguero, he explained: “He is much, much better. He hasn’t trained but we will see tomorrow about Tuesday (against Tottenham) or Crystal Palace.”
Guardiola was impressed by Mendy’s contribution, adding: “He arrived at the by-line many times and it had been a long time since he played.
“He trained for the last few weeks and started a little (shakily) but in the second half, he was much better.”
Walker was the subject of a controversial moment, having gone head-to-head with Alireza Jahanbakhsh following a challenge. Both players were cautioned as a result and Guardiola admitted he had yet to view a replay, revealing the reason why the right-back was brought off at the break.
“I didn’t see it,” he continued. “When I see it on TV, I will tell you.
“What I’ve been told is he didn’t touch him. He had pain in his hamstring and could not run.
“(On Tuesday) We will start the race for the Champions League.
“We are going to try. To be Champions, we have to win all the games.”
