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The contest at Wembley was hardly a classic, but a moment of magic from Semenyo proved decisive.

Pep Guardiola tinkered with his team, leaving Rayan Cherki on the bench, with Omar Marmoush a surprise inclusion, and City stuttered in the first half.

While Chelsea did not test James Trafford, the Blues looked the brighter of the teams before the break, albeit Erling Haaland forced Robert Sanchez into action and saw a goal disallowed for Matheus Nunes drifting offside in the build-up.

Even Cherki's introduction did not immediately spur City into life after the restart, with Chelsea having several hopeful penalty appeals turned down.

Yet in the 72nd minute, Semenyo provided a moment of genius.

Haaland was the provider after he raced in behind and provided a low centre, from which Semenyo sensationally flicked home.

Enzo Fernandez sliced over as Chelsea almost levelled immediately, while Nico O'Reilly and Cherki squandered great chances to add to City's lead.

Liam Delap headed over from the centre of the area, but City was not made to pay for its failure to make it 2-0, as it added the FA Cup to the Carabao Cup for this season's haul, and there is still a slim hope of a domestic treble as the Premier League title race heads into the final week.

Semenyo, who joined the club in January from Bournemouth, has been involved in more FA Cup goals than any other City player this season with three goals and two assists.

Asked what it is like working under Guardiola, Semenyo quipped: "He's a mad man. He's a mad man. We all love him. He's so passionate, he wants to win trophies.

"What he's done for the club has been amazing. I'm so grateful to be here, that he gets to coach me and make me a better player, and he's just a top man."

Semenyo has scored 20 goals this season – 10 for City and 10 for Bournemouth – and he has also provided six assists, again evenly spread across both clubs.

"I don't know how to feel right now. I'm quite numb at the moment," Semenyo said.

"I just tried to improvise the best I could – it went in the bottom corner, I can't complain. I've done it a couple of times in training, and luckily I got a good connection. If it goes behind me, I might try a trick or too – it worked, I'm grateful!

"It's been hard work, I'm learning a lot, I've got top pros around me, a top coach. It's been a great four months – long may it continue.

"It shows that hard work pays off. Whatever happens in life, it doesn't mean it's the end. You just keep working hard and get your rewards."

City captain Bernardo Silva, who is leaving the club at the end of the season, described the victory as "very special".

"It's really nice to finish this way and maybe we can still have a small dream that we can still fight for the Premier League," he said.

"It's just special to me in my last season to give them another trophy," Portugal midfielder Silva said in a pitchside TV interview.

"In the beginning of the second half it was really tough for us and they put us under a lot of pressure and made it very difficult."