Manchester City booked a fourth successive FA Cup final and kept their domestic treble hopes alive with a 2-1 win over Southampton on Saturday. But the result was far from straightforward.
Man City were forced to come from behind in a tense afternoon at Wembley, after Finn Azaz fired Saints into a shock lead in the 79th minute. Jeremy Doku and Nico Gonzalez quickly responded, but Pep Guardiola will surely be walking away agonising over a glaring problem in his squad: the struggles of Omar Marmoush.
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Wembley symptoms of a season-long problem
Southampton pushed Man City all the way on Saturday. And in these high-pressure semi-finals where you’re expected to be the protagonist, ruthlessness was required. Unfortunately for Guardiola, he was given the opposite by Marmoush.
The Egypt international was certainly well involved throughout the match, perhaps even more so than Erling Haaland usually is. He had 27 touches — including seven in the opposition box — completed 11 of his 12 passes and attempted two take-ons.
However, when it really came to it, Marmoush was off the mark, missing a number of considerable opportunities — including firing straight at goalkeeper Daniel Peretz in the first half and shanking two close-range efforts well over in the space of eight second-half minutes.
Unfortunately for Marmoush — who was replaced by Haaland on 71 minutes — this performance didn’t occur in a vacuum. The 27-year-old has scored just six goals in 34 appearances across all competitions this season, including only one in 17 Premier League outings.
In league play alone, Marmoush has a shot conversion rate of just 4.17%, while his overall shot accuracy sits at just 29.17%. And he’s missed twice as many big chances (2) as he’s scored goals. This makes for poor reading when compared to the Premier League’s most potent marksmen this season.
| Player | Shot Conversion Rate | Shot Accuracy |
| Igor Thiago | 27.63% | 51.32% |
| Erling Haaland | 20.69% | 45.69% |
| Omar Marmoush | 4.17% | 29.17% |
2025/26 Premier League only
Are Man City over-reliant on Haaland?
As long as Haaland stays fit, this isn’t a major problem. The Norwegian has scored 24 Premier League goals so far this season, increasing that total to 38 across all competitions. But what happens if Man City do have to cope without him?
Well, Antoine Semenyo has 15 league goals this season, but 10 of those came for Bournemouth, while no other Man City player has hit double figures.
Across all competitions and purely in a Man City shirt, only Rayan Cherki and Phil Foden have joined Haaland on double-figure goals (both 10).
The biggest problem there is that none of the names mentioned are focal points. That was supposed to be Marmoush, though he’s clearly struggling away from the transition system that made him so effective at Eintracht Frankfurt, not to mention trying to operate in Haaland’s shadow. A pain Julian Alvarez keenly felt before departing for Atletico Madrid.
A problem Pep will hope to avoid
None of this is to take away from Man City’s achievements. Reaching four straight FA Cup finals is an incredible feat, and the fact that they’re so well-placed to win a domestic treble after such an inconsistent first half of the campaign is testament to their remarkable turnaround.
However, this is just one problem festering under the surface that could come back to bite Guardiola should anything unfortunate befall Haaland, or the need to rotate at the end of the campaign becomes apparent.