Manchester City forward Raheem Sterling hails 'brilliant' Brighton
A fourth-minute header from Gabriel Jesus separated the sides in a very even tie at Wembley, with Albion unable to find an equaliser despite a very promising performance against quadruple chasing City.
Speaking to the BBC post-match, Sterling said: "Brighton were brilliant, they stayed in the game and caused us problems from set-pieces. We showed spirit to hold on.
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Hide Ad"We have some huge games to come, we look forward to the next one at Spurs on Tuesday and focus solely on that."
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Sterling also commented on his arrangement for 500 pupils from his old school to attend today's semi-final.
He added: "Growing up in Wembley, when there were games on I was never able to step into the stadium until I got a free ticket. I saw the cup final between Chelsea and Manchester United and that was a turning point in my life.
"I wanted to give them the same opportunity."