ST's weekend football debrief: Here's how to overcome the big guns in FA Cup

Thanks to their charismatic managers, this past weekend saw three underdogs progress to the FA Cup semi-finals, while embattled Manchester City came from behind to keep alive their hopes of winning a major trophy for an eighth straight season.

- David Lee

Here are four key talking points.

NUNO ON COURSE FOR SUCCESS AT FOREST

Surely a strong contender for the English Premier League manager of the season, Nuno Espirito Santo is providing the blueprint of how a budget team like Nottingham Forest can outwit the bigger clubs through lethal counter-attacks without dominating possession.

And when the goals don't come—they failed to score for just the sixth time in 34 games this season—a little bit of luck doesn't hurt, as they hurtled through to the FA Cup semi-finals with a shoot-out win over Brighton, the third straight time they have won on penalties in the competition.

While the Portuguese has yet to win a major trophy in Europe, he has made a name for himself at other underdog sides.

For a side whose market value was ranked 13th out of 20 Premier League teams at the start of the season, two-time European champions Forest, third in the standings, can smell a return to the glory days.

Champions League football is within reach, as well as a first major trophy since their 1990 League Cup win, and a first FA Cup triumph since 1959, even if their next opponents are Manchester City, whom they beat on March 8 with just 30 per cent possession.