Omar Marmoush scored with his first touch after coming on as a substitute to earn Manchester City a 2-1 FA Cup quarter-final win over Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium.
The game was on knife edge at 1-1 when the Egyptian striker replaced Erling Haaland after the Norwegian hobbled off injured just after the hour mark.
And Marmoush made an instant impact when his shot found it's squirmed through Bournemouth goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga's dive after being set-up by fellow substitute Nico O'Reilly.
But it was O'Reilly's introduction at half-time that helped swing the match City's way after a frustrating first half that saw them go 1-0 down. “He was unbelievable,” midfielder Bernado Silva said of the young Englishman who set up both City goals.
“Against Plymouth [when he scored twice in the previous round] he showed the impact he can have on the game and the energy he brought today changed the game. That's what we need.
“The motivation that this is the only hope of us winning something [pulled us through]. The team played a really good game, a really aggressive game – we are really happy today.”
Haaland, meanwhile, had endured a nightmare opening 15 minutes to the game after missing three glorious chances to open the scoring.
The first came when he headed wide a Matheus Nunes cross when well placed in the penalty area.
City were then awarded a penalty, after Tyler Adams had been penalised for handball, only for Haaland to see his weak spot-kick saved by Kepa. It was the third penalty in six attempts that Haaland has failed to score for City.
His hat-trick of misses was complete minutes later when the big attacker raced through on goal, one-on-one with Kepa, only to clip the ball over the bar – much to the delight of home fans.
And City were made to pay in the 21st minute when Nunes sloppily gave the ball away, leading to David Brooks swinging in a cross which Justin Kluivert hit first time towards goal, with Evanilson poking in on the line to claim the goal.
Manager Pep Guardiola reacted at half-time by replacing defender Abdukodir Khusanov with O'Reilly who went in at left back with Josko Gvardiol moving to centre-half.
It was to prove an inspired change with the 20-year-old making an instant impact by supplying a pin-point low cross for Haaland to finish at the back post to finally get himself on the scoresheet in the 49the minute.
The goal meant Haaland became the first player since Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy (in 2004) to score 30 goals in all competitions for a Premier League club.
But his rollercoaster match was to take another twist when he forced off injured after a collision with Lewis Cook resulting in Marmoush's introduction.
And the January signing from Eintracht Frankfurt certainly made a quick impression after Antoine Semenyo made a hash of a sliding interception, allowing O'Reilly to set-up Marmoush for his fifth goal for the club.
It was a goal neither Semenya nor Kepa – who should have saved Marmoush's shot – will want to see again in a hurry.
It was almost 3-1 with eight minutes to go when another substitute, this time Jack Grealish, cut inside from the left to pick out Ilkay Gudogan whose curling effort struck the bottom of the post.
City were able to see out the match relatively comfortably and will take on Nottingham Forest in the semi-finals at Wembley Stadium.
“We did it,” added Guardiola. “Seven times in a row reaching semi-finals in the FA Cup.
“I am sorry to tell you, but this is outstanding. This generation of players, they have done this.
“To come here one of the toughest away places to come.
“The impact from Nico was really good, but not just him – really pleased that we reach the semi-final, again.
“Not just young players, but the old players as well. Today, Bernardo, Gundo and Kevin [De Bruyne], you know they are really good.
“Nico scored two goals against Plymouth and the impact today was outstanding. He's going to play in semi-final for sure.”
Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola admitted his team lacked energy after the break. “First half, we played very well but second half the game was for them,” said the Spanish coach.
“We couldn't keep the same intensity level, we were not as aggressive and we were a lot more passive.
“Even with the changes, we were lacking energy, especially up front. We were not able to play at the same level we did in the first half.”
In Sunday's other semi-final, Aston Villa defeated second-tier Preston North End 3-0 at Deepdale thanks to a double from on-loan Manchester United attacker Marcus Rashford with Jacob Ramsey scoring the third.
It was Rashford's first goals since his brace for United against Everton on December 1 and Villa will now take on Crystal Palace – who beat Fulham 3-0 on Saturday, in next month's semi-finals.
