Manchester City secured a 14th FA Cup final appearance by defeating Nottingham Forest 2-0 – their seventh successive semi-final win at Wembley.
Pep Guardiola’s men wasted little time in stamping their authority, striking inside two minutes. Mateo Kovačić cut through the Forest midfield to tee up Rico Lewis who coolly slotted the ball into the corner from the edge of the box. The visitors continued to dominate as Jack Grealish caused transport down the flanks, Forest failing to settle into a rhythm, having 23 per cent possession at the midway mark of the first half.
Chris Wood ‘sufficed to silence the home fans in the 57th minute and, although Forest believed that they should have been level through Chris Wood after he lofted the ball over Heaton, the goal was correctly disallowed for offside.
City made it two six minutes after the break when Joško Gvardiol leapt highest to thump a header past the keeper at an Omar Marmoush corner. The defending champions comfortably controlled matters with a two-goal lead but were almost caught out when Morgan Gibbs-White and Taiwo Awoniyi hit the woodwork during a late Forest rally.
Though Forest mounted a spirited second-half fightback, City’s early dominance was sufficient. Guardiola’s side will now meet Crystal Palace in the final in May, where they will seek to win the FA Cup for a record eighth time.
