Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola stated that he is "delighted" that his side reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup with a 2-0 victory over Middlesbrough.

A lot of fond memories

City travelled to the Riverside Stadium looking for progress into the next round but faced a tough test against a Boro side who had scored three goals in the last two rounds.

However, it was the visitors who dominated from the off with David Silva opening the scoring three minutes in, with Sergio Agüero securing their place at Wembley with his strike in the second period.

The national stadium holds a special place in Guardiola's heart with Champions League victories in 1992 and 2011 respectively, the Catalan coach praised his side's efforts and also his eagerness to return to Wembley.

"We would like to have score more goals," Guardiola told his post-match press conference. "But of course we are delighted first of all to be at Wembley."

“We are so happy to be there (in the semi-final)," the Spaniard stated. "We’ve played most of our games away against three teams from the Premier League and one of the best in the Championship so it’s a huge compliment to the team."

"I have a lot of lovely memories of been in Wembley in the old and in the new one," the coach reminisced. "Normally this kind of happens here just in the final here in the semi-final as well too and of course we are so happy to be there."

Bringing that winning mentality

Many will consider this a successful first season for the 46-year-old, with good progress in the FA Cup and Champions League and battling near the top of the Premier League table.

Guardiola admitted that his first season will be considered a failure if he didn't collect any silverware, but stated that he is looking to establish a winning mentality that he picked up in his younger years in Spain.

"I grew up in a club from 12/13 years old I was in the academy in Barcelona," he said. "I realised that it is not acceptable to lose you have to win."

"To understand that you don't discriminate competitions, you don’t discriminate friendly games and official games," Guardiola stated. "Every game you are going to play you play good and try to win and show to the opponent that you are there to win."

"It’s the only way that you can improve like a club and like a good mentality," the Spaniard conceded. "That is what I am going to try in my period here to give in that club."

"It doesn’t matter what happened, it doesn’t matter what competition," Guardiola concluded. "No complaints no regrets go there and try and win the game."

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About the author
Danial  Kennedy
Award-winning sports journalism graduate. Currently studying a PR Masters at the University of Sunderland. Writing for VAVEL since August 2014. Twitter - @ddkjournalism.