Mateo Kovacic ran the show as Manchester City stormed their way to a third-successive FA Cup final with a dominant 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest. Rico Lewis gave Pep Guardiola's side a dream start by firing into the bottom corner from the edge of the box in the second minute while Joso Gvardiol powered home a header from a corner shortly after the break to secure victory.
City were making their 28th appearance at the new Wembley and Guardiola pulled some surprises in his starting XI, dropping Kevin De Bruyne and Nico Gonzalez. It proved to be a stroke of genius, though, as Kovacic utterly controlled the game, making the most of the space Forest afforded him due to their sit-and-wait approach which has been so effective this season.
Nuno Espirito Santo's side barely threatened in the first half, but substitute Anthony Elanga missed an incredible chance to level just after the break, side-footing wide of the near post after a breakaway run from Callum Hudson-Odoi. City then went down the other end and conjured a brilliant move which led to them firing three times at Forest's goal as 'keeper Matz Sels stopped the ball going over the line with his foot.
City had screamed for a penalty for handball, but were only awarded a corner. It proved just as useful, however, as Gvardiol rose high to head in Omar Marmoush's delivery, delivering a sucker punch to Forest. City target Morgan Gibbs-White went on to shake the crossbar with an awesome volley and then hit the post, wasting a golden chance to pull one back after a disastrous pass from Gvardiol.
Forest hit the woodwork for a third time late on, but still City's lead rarely looked troubled as they became the sixth club to reach three straight FA Cup finals. Guardiola's side will be aiming to lift the trophy for an eighth time when they meet Crystal Palace next month.
GOAL rates City's players from Wembley Stadium...
