Azaz left with mixed emotions
Having sent 36,000 Southampton fans into pandemonium, only to be outdone by a late Manchester City comeback, Finn Azaz reflected on a rollercoaster Emirates FA Cup semi-final.
After a goalless opening 45 minutes in which Leo Scienza had a goal disallowed for offside, Saints rode a City storm in the second half before Azaz’s moment of brilliance.
Collecting Kuryu Matsuki’s pass, the Republic of Ireland international swivelled and shot in one motion from 20 yards to send the wall of yellow behind the goal into raptures.
With Azaz’s effort still being celebrated, Jeremy Doku restored parity just three minutes later via a deflected effort, before Nico Gonzalez had a moment of magic himself to win Pep Guardiola’s side the game with a 25-yard strike on 87 minutes.
Ending Saints’ hopes of repeating their 1976 cup success, exactly 50 years on, Azaz reflected on a rollercoaster afternoon.
“Feeling a mix of emotions to be honest. Obviously gutted to go out, especially with 10 minutes to go I thought, you know, you’ve got something to hold on to, can you hold on. Mainly I'm just proud of how we performed as a team and yeah, it’s a mix of those two.
“I mean, the mentality is there. The mentality has been there for a long time now in the group and it starts with the manager.
“We came in here with a game plan to try and win the game, as simple as that. That's what we tried to do and I think we almost did. So yeah, really, really proud but like I said, the mentality is there.”
Speaking at the same end of the ground he scored at less than an hour before, Saints’ number 10 attempted to relive the moment.
“I can't actually remember what was going on. I just remember it broke out and I just thought ‘I’m free here’ and then it just was instinct from there. There was no thinking about it. And yeah, just a crazy moment. A crazy moment. Hard to kind of reflect on it now but yeah, one of the best moments of my career.
“I just connected with it nice. I don't know what to say, like you say it was just an instinct. I guess it was just an amazing feeling and amazing to see all the fans celebrate it. The yellow wall was pretty intimidating but it was amazing support. We knew it was going to be good but that was another level. It was amazing.
We’ve gone toe-to-toe with one of the best teams in the world, that’s all you have to say. The mentality was there already, we beat Fulham, we beat Arsenal, it’s just another one to cement that mentality that we can go and beat anyone.”
