Nottingham Forest 0 – 2 Manchester City
After going two goals down, Nottingham Forest were denied a comeback three times by the post and crossbar.
Manchester City dominated the attack, finding the net early in both halves. After falling behind by two goals, Nottingham Forest pushed hard to get back into the game, but three of their efforts were stopped by the woodwork. With this win, Pep Guardiola’s side advanced to the FA Cup final for the third straight time.
City secured a 2-0 victory in Sunday’s semifinal at Wembley Stadium in London. Rico Lewis opened the scoring, and Josko Gvardiol added a second to seal the win.
In a frustrating season, the FA Cup remains City’s only real chance of lifting silverware. They will face Crystal Palace in the final at Wembley on May 17.
Palace reached the final for the first time since 2016 after beating Aston Villa 3-0 on Saturday in the other semifinal.
City wasted no time getting ahead, scoring in just the second minute from a brilliant attack. Mateo Kovačić fed Rico Lewis inside the box, and the 20-year-old English defensive midfielder fired a low, powerful shot into the net.
Lewis became the youngest City player to score at Wembley since Steve MacKenzie in 1981.
City continued to dominate the first half but couldn’t add to their lead despite taking five more shots — none of which were on target. Nottingham, who reached the FA Cup semifinal for the first time since 1991, failed to register a single shot on goal before halftime.
Just six minutes into the second half, City doubled their lead. Croatian defender Josko Gvardiol rose to meet Omar Marmoush’s corner with a strong header, putting his side firmly in control.
In the 66th minute, Forest nearly pulled one back when Morgan Gibbs-White unleashed a bullet volley from outside the box that rattled the crossbar.
Four minutes later, Gibbs-White was unlucky again — this time his shot from inside the box, after rounding the goalkeeper, struck the post.
The bad luck continued for Forest in the 81st minute. Nigerian forward Taiwo Awoniyi’s close-range shot hit the post, and although Gibbs-White pounced on the rebound, City goalkeeper Stefan Ortega made a brilliant save.
City, who won their seventh FA Cup title in 2023 but lost last year’s final to Manchester United, now have a golden chance to reclaim the trophy.
