Manchester City Reach FA Cup Final After Beating Nottingham Forest, Guaranteeing Top-Five Finish
Manchester City booked their place in the FA Cup final with a 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest, thanks to goals from Rico Lewis and Josko Gvardiol. The victory guarantees City a top-five finish in the Premier League, their only chance of major silverware this season following their loss of the Premier League title to Liverpool.
Pep Guardiola acknowledged that an FA Cup triumph would not mask a disappointing campaign, stating, "We are a thousand million points behind Liverpool. This season it could not happen, at the same time we tried to avoid the damage. We have to be calm now and recover."
Lewis, who impressed in midfield, believes City are now moving in the right direction after their faltering mid-season form. "We can go on about excuses but it wasn't good enough at the start of the season and now we're picking ourselves back up and we've got momentum," said Lewis. "We've got the chance of a trophy now and hopefully be in the top four to take into next season."
After starting the season with a 13-game unbeaten run, City won just once in their next 13 games in all competitions. They suffered their earliest exit from the Champions League for 12 years after losing to Real Madrid in the knockout play-offs in February. However, City have won six of their last seven games, including their last-gasp 2-1 success over top-five rivals Aston Villa on Tuesday.
Nottingham Forest, who came close to scoring on several occasions, next host Brentford in the Premier League on Thursday. Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo expressed his disappointment, stating, "We started really badly again, it makes everything hard. It took time to feel comfortable and adjust... We have to accept we lost."
Source: BBC Sports Football
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