Lifting FA Cup alongside Bernardo was 'so special', says Stones | OneFootball

John Stones revealed he wasn't expecting to lift the FA Cup trophy alongside captain Bernardo Silva but admitted the moment was extremely special.

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Antoine Semenyo’s splendid goal was enough to secure our eighth FA Cup title at Wembley Stadium.

Bernardo and Stones have both announced they will be leaving the Club at the end of the season after hugely successful stints in Manchester and the skipper - unexpectedly to Stones - ushered him to lift the trophy with him after collecting their winners medals.

“It’s so special. I didn’t really want to do that but they dragged me into it [lift the trophy],” began Stones. “The game wasn’t a final in many ways, but we controlled the game and stopped them from creating chances.

“To have three FA Cups to my name is very special. I don’t think it will set in yet as I’m trying not to get too emotional about what’s happening in a week, as I want to focus on the game in midweek. I’ve felt the love of everyone so it’s been overwhelming. I’ll definitely miss it.

“We’ve found a system that works for us, with new players coming in and adapting to a new system, it’s now clicked. The manager hasn’t rotated as much as he has done in previous seasons and the continuity has helped us to work on things.”

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After a hard-fought first 45 minutes which ended goalless, Stones believes Pep Guadiola’s half-time team talk propelled the side to grind out the victory.

“He was angry to be fair. I’ve never seen him as angry as that,” he continued. “He was passionate and he just wanted to us go out and show the fight and hunger to go out and win a final.

“He speaks a lot about how we sometimes play against ourselves and we were flat in that first half.

“He wanted to see a willingness to run and press to put them on the back foot. He thought our high press was a little bit off.”