Man City beat Forest to reach third straight FA Cup final

Wembley, April 28 (IANS) Manchester City reached the Emirates FA Cup Final for a third successive season with a 2-0 victory over Nottingham Forest.

Rico Lewis' early strike and Josko Gvardiol's second-half header were enough for Pep Guardiola's men, who will now face Crystal Palace on 17 May.

The seven-time Emirates FA Cup champions dominated a largely uneventful first 45 minutes after Lewis' goal and were able to see the game out after Gvardiol doubled their lead just six minutes after the restart.

After a slow start, Forest pushed City all the way with a strong second-half performance but were unable to find a way through despite hitting the woodwork on three separate occasions, as their wait for a first FA Cup Final appearance since 1991 continues.

"Seven semi-finals in a row, three finals speaks so highly about this generation of players and this Club in itself. We are really pleased that we are there. This season has not been good because what defines it is the Premier League," said City manager Pep Guardiola.

"Since I have been here always we have been there (in the league) but we try to avoid the damage and qualify for the Champions League.

“We have five days to play a team like Wolves who are playing really good. We have four finals in the league and then, unbelievably, pleased to play Crystal Palace here. Yesterday you saw how good they are," he added.

Man of the Match Rico Lewis said, “Obviously I’m over the moon with my goal. It’s just a position that I like to play, it’s different to playing as a full-back and then coming inside, you know, you’re always inside.

“Today was a tough game, but you know we showed a kind of different side to our game where we can survive and get through it at the end.”

The 2024/25 FA Cup final between Crystal Palace and Manchester City will be played at Wembley on May 17.

A victory in FA final would mean Guardiola’s 19th major honour as Manchester City boss.

--IANS

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