Manchester City defeated Nottingham Forest 2-0 on Sunday afternoon to book her place in the FA Cup final, where Crystal Palace is waiting.
At the beginning of both halves, the goals of Rico Lewis and Josko Gvardiol brought the cityzens into an extensive position, but Forest could have easily returned to the competition in the middle of a significantly improved exhibition in the second half.
City now has the opportunity to limit a bitter, disappointing season with cutlery, as it to claim the dream of the forest to claim their first FA Cup trophy since 1959.
How the game unfolds
Pep Guardiola knew that his team would be used for a powerful frustrating afternoon if they had Nottingham Forest progressed early, and Nuno Espirito Santo’s team is more competent than any other in the Premier League this season when it comes to scoring the first goal in games.
Here City played the UN back and opened the rating by Rico Lewis within two minutes. The block of Mateo Kovacic’s ride of unbalanced forest, with Lewis having enough time off the edge of the box to shoot a precise effort over Matz Sels.
Forest tried to get a kick when the cityzens appeared in the opening stages with vintage overve. Guardiola’s side claimed the overall control, whereby its position fluidity and connectivity overwhelmed their opponents in central areas.
The red shirts seem to suffer from Nuno’s tactical switch, which limited them in wide areas, but they at least defensive and ensured that the cup had not escaped them in the first half. Despite its superiority, the city was after taking the lead to work SELS. Nico O’reilly came closely with the distance, while Savinho had blocked a few targeted shots.
Nuno had to change the tacking in the second half, and the arrival of Anthony Elanga saw how Forest returned to a more well -known structure. With its first touch, the Swede should have pulled a forest level after Callum Hudson-Odoi broke behind left and selected it in the box, but Elanga could not reach the goal.
Shortly afterwards, the winger had to equip his Miss by Josko Gvardiol, who made City a 2-0 lead ahead of Omar Marmoush’s corner after Sels had been competently saved from Kovacic. The Cityzens threatened a route, but the forest came up with strong goals.
Their resuscitation was triggered by a hopeful Morgan Gibbs-White attempt with his left foot, which defeated Stefan Ortega, but hit the woodwork. The forest skipper then received a gift from Gvardiol, but his efforts kissed the interior of the post cruelly from an acute angle after circling the goalkeeper of the city.
It was no feeling that the city continued and they continued to threaten Sel’s goal without getting the cup tie beyond Nunos men. The replacement of Taiwo Awoniyi came into the footsteps of his captain by hit the post with an instinctive effort from the region, and this turned out to be the last big moment of the forest in the semi -finals.
Take a look at the player reviews for Nottingham Forest 0-2 Man City.
Manchester City won a Premier League title in the absence of a recognized center forward. Pep Guardiola’s use of Ilkay Gundogan and Phil Foden as false Nines inspired the Cityzens in 2020/21 in the Premier League Glory, and the Spaniard has returned to the footballer, whom he loves more than any other to alleviate Haaland’s absence: midfield.
Instead of using Omar Marmoush as a similar replacement, PEP decided for inner strikers and false Nines. The city’s configuration is constantly changing, but it was 4-2-4 with numerous reference points between the lines. On Sunday, Marmoush and Savinho used their marauding full -back width, while Jack Grialish mainly occupied the left half area. The collaboration with the winger opened the goal scorer Lewis, who would have proudly made Gundogan with his masterly performance in an unknown role at Wembley.
The young Englishman has not played that much lately, but Guardiola entrusted him with the attack as an important mediator. While Lewis worked in the front of City, he rarely tried to penetrate the back. His job was to lure a stubborn forest backline from its disciplined form, and in the first two minutes when they were too late to jump.
There were other exemplary actors in Sky Blue, namely Kovacic and Gvardiol. Nevertheless, Lewis’ display as a memory of Guardiola’s ability to solve problems, as well as the talent of the young Englishman in a difficult individual season.
Nunos structure in the first half was strange. Speedster Elanga was left behind on the bench, and he had Hudson modes worked from Chris Wood’s shoulder. The plan must have been to go long and leave Hudson-Odoi behind, but rarely have they tested the city’s defense with direct passports into the front man.
Elliot Anderson and Gibbs-White have both enjoyed excellent seasons, but Nunos initial setup has the couple superfluous. They were neither here nor there. It was no surprise that he changed things at halftime. He had to.
Suddenly, Wald could test the city far, while Gibbs-White driven much more centrally. The improvements were different and they create more than enough to bring themselves back into play after Gvardiol Guardiola’s side had led into a 2-0 lead.
City was brilliant in the first half, but Nunos Setup has to be questioned. Perhaps his team was only stunned by her early concession. You are not used to going back!
It cannot be denied that 2024/25 was a pretty terrible season for Manchester City, but they are strongly supported to end the year with silver. Although you have to be close to your best to beat a crystal palace side that blinded Aston Villa under the arch.
After winning on Sunday, Pep Guardiola’s team is the third team this century, which reached Arsenal (2001-2003) and Chelsea (2020-2022) three consecutive FA Cup final. They are seven -time winners, but have only lifted the legendary trophy twice under the Spaniard.
While the city continued to open high -quality openings, they were largely owned here against a persistent forest team. Guardiola’s ability to find solutions was examined in this term in this semester after Rodri torn his ACL, but he came across an efficient formula without leading the scorer Haaland, which will probably be back for the final.