Man City beat Nottingham Forest to reach FA Cup final
What's the story
Manchester City reached the FA Cup final for the third time in recent years, beating Nottingham Forest 2-0 at Wembley. The match witnessed goals from Rico Lewis and Josko Gvardiol, scored at the start of each half. Despite losing the Premier League title race to Liverpool, Pep Guardiola's side still has a chance to win silverware this season. The win saw City set up a final clash against Crystal Palace.
Match challenges
Nottingham Forest's struggles and missed opportunities
Nottingham Forest had a tough match, hitting the woodwork thrice in the second half. Anthony Elanga had a huge opportunity to equalize but failed to convert it into a goal. Rico Lewis scored the first goal for Manchester City within two minutes of the match, giving them an early lead. Nottingham Forest's game plan was thrown off by this early goal. The second half witnessed Gvardiol score with a header from a corner, cementing City's lead and mirroring their dominant performance throughout the match.
Forest's struggle
Nottingham Forest's missed chances and lack of shots
Nottingham Forest had a few moments of hope in the second half but fell short. Morgan Gibbs-White hit the bar with a volley and struck the post after Gvardiol's error. Taiwo Awoniyi also had an opportunity to score but his flick at goal hit the post. Despite these chances, Forest struggled in the first half, failing to register any shots or significant touches in City's penalty area.
Final showdown
City's experience shines in FA Cup semi-final
Nottingham Forest's manager Nuno tried to add more energy into his side's play in the second half, but it was too late to alter the result of the match. Manchester City, with their wealth of experience from seven consecutive FA Cup semi-finals, cruised their way to another final. This will be City's third successive FA Cup final.
Do you know?
14th FA Cup final for City
This will be City's 14th FA Cup final. City have won 7 FA Cups and are six-time runners-up. If City beat Palace next month, they will equal Tottenham, Chelsea and Liverpool in terms of FA Cup trophy wins (8).
Information
Here are the match stats
City had six shots on target from 14 attempts compared to Forest's one shot on target from 8 attempts. City had 67% ball possession and an 89% pass accuracy.