City strike early and never let Forest breathe
Start fast, control the middle, punish errors. That was the blueprint, and it took less than two minutes to take hold. Rico Lewis, playing in that hybrid midfield role he has grown into, stepped onto a cut-back from Mateo Kovacic and drilled low into the far corner. Wembley fell quiet on the Forest side. City had the start every semi-final team dreams about.
From there, City dropped into a familiar rhythm. Kovacic kept slipping between the lines, Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden took up pockets, and Forest struggled to get out. Callum Hudson-Odoi did find a run in behind once, squaring for Chris Wood, but Josko Gvardiol threw himself in the way and the flag went up anyway. It told a story: even when Forest found daylight, there was a blue shirt blocking the way.
Forest’s bigger problem? They didn’t register a single shot in the first half. Pep Guardiola’s team didn’t need flash to dominate; they just strangled the pace. City were happy to recycle, pull Forest’s midfield into dead zones, then prod the back line with runners from deep. It wasn’t end-to-end, but it was suffocating.
The clock ticked, and you sensed Nuno Espirito Santo would have to change the shape or personnel. He went for both ideas wrapped in one decision at the break, withdrawing Danilo and sending on Anthony Elanga for more width and direct speed. The energy shifted right away.
Within minutes of the restart, Elanga had the chance Forest needed. Hudson-Odoi slid a low cross through the six-yard box, and Elanga met it first time but pushed it wide. That was the moment. City had been warned, and Forest finally had proof they could land a punch.
They didn’t keep the pressure on long enough. Five minutes into the half, City went back to what they do well: a dead ball, a routine, and total conviction. From a corner, Gvardiol rose highest and powered a header home. Clinical, simple, and cruel for Forest after their best spell.
At 2-0, the semi-final felt done on paper. On the grass, Forest refused to fold. Morgan Gibbs-White hit the frame with a curler that had the City end holding its breath, and substitute Taiwo Awoniyi smacked the woodwork from close range. Another day, those two go in and the story flips. Today, they didn’t.
Guardiola’s side will care about the clean sheet almost as much as the scoreline. After a patchy winter, they’ve put together four wins on the bounce across competitions for the first time since October. They also bank a little payback after losing to Forest in the league in March. Cup football has its own logic, and City were cold-eyed when it mattered.
The meaning of the 2-0 is bigger than a scoreline. City are back in a third straight FA Cup final and chasing their last realistic trophy of the season. They can’t retain the Premier League, but this is a direct shot at silverware with a familiar script: control the tempo, defend the box, take your big chances. It’s not flashy. It’s disciplined.
Rico Lewis summed up the mood in the mixed zone. “Obviously I’m over the moon with my goal,” he said. “It’s just a position that I like to play... Today was a tough game, but we showed a different side where we can survive and get through it at the end.” He didn’t overplay it, but the point landed. City had to ride out a spell and did.
Forest’s swing-and-miss and City’s cool head
Forest left Wembley with regrets. The opening goal gutted their plan to compress space and frustrate. The first 45 minutes were too passive, too central, too easy for City to predict. Once Elanga came on, Forest had stretch and threat down the right, and Hudson-Odoi started finding gaps that weren’t there before. The problem was timing: by the time the game truly opened for them, City had already doubled their lead.
Look at the decisive moments and you see the line-breaks and set pieces that separate elite teams in tight games. Kovacic’s early carry and cut-back asked a question in the second minute that Forest never really answered. The set piece for 2-0 was about detail—blocks, timing of the leap, and the delivery to a zone Gvardiol attacks well. You can coach that all week. City often do.
Forest did create enough to change the narrative. Gibbs-White’s shot clipped the woodwork with the keeper beaten, and Awoniyi’s effort rattled the frame again. Those aren’t half-chances. Add Elanga’s miss right after halftime and there’s a window where 1-1 or even 2-1 felt possible. The margins went against them.
Nuno’s tweaks brought life, but the flip side of throwing on direct runners is the risk City feast on spaces you leave behind. For a ten-minute spell after the break, it looked like Forest had City on skates. Then came the corner and the Gvardiol header. That’s the difference at this level. You get punched while you’re swinging.
Individually, Lewis was the standout. He didn’t just score; he kept the shape tidy, received under pressure, and released the ball before contact. Kovacic was smooth but snappy, moving Forest’s midfield like chess pieces. Gvardiol defended front-foot and attacked his set-piece lane like a center-forward. Across the back, City didn’t panic when Forest finally turned the screw.
There was also control from the bench. City slowed the game down late, took the air out of the stadium, and managed restarts. That meant fewer transitional moments, fewer scrambles around the box, and just enough composure to ride out those shots off the metal. It wasn’t champagne football; it was a professional job.
Guardiola’s Wembley record now looks like a habit. This was his 20th visit with City, a remarkable run of big days and high-stakes games. They won the FA Cup in 2023 and lost to Manchester United in the 2024 final. Back again in 2025, it’s another chance to add to his City haul, with a 19th major honor under him on the line.
And the opponent waiting is no soft touch. Crystal Palace beat Aston Villa 3-0 in the other semi-final and arrive with momentum, edge, and a clear identity. Palace won’t give City the same spaces Forest allowed early; they press lanes and counter at speed. That final on Saturday, May 17, has the look of a chess match that could be decided by one mistake or a single set piece.
For Forest, the takeaway is harsh but useful. The gap wasn’t about ideas—it was about timing and precision. They defended too deep early, they missed the equalizer when it arrived, and they lost their man at a corner. Those three beats can undo you at Wembley. The consolation is they created enough in the second half to believe the ceiling is higher.
The focus turns now to their last five league games and the push to lock in Champions League qualification. That’s still within reach if they bottle the best parts of this performance and trim the waste. Brentford come to the City Ground on Thursday night. It’s quick, it’s unforgiving, and it’s a clean slate to prove this semi-final sting won’t linger.
City, meanwhile, are gathering something they’ve lacked at times this season: rhythm. Four straight wins across competitions matter in April more than in August. The shape looks balanced, the younger players are stepping in with assurance, and the senior heads are steering games without drama. It’s the profile of a team that can carry form to a final—and finish.
Key moments that swung the semi-final:
- 2’ — Lewis sweeps in Kovacic’s cut-back for 1-0, ripping up Forest’s plan to sit and frustrate.
- 45’ — Forest change shape, Elanga on for width; energy shifts.
- 47’ — Elanga scuffs wide from Hudson-Odoi’s cross. That was the equalizer chance.
- 50’ — Gvardiol rises at a corner to head in for 2-0. City punish the miss immediately.
- 66’ — Gibbs-White clips the woodwork; hope flickers.
- 78’ — Awoniyi hits the frame again; City survive, then shut the doors.
Strip it back, and the semi-final was about two habits. Forest blinked in the boxes; City didn’t. In knockout football, that’s usually enough. The holders from 2023 are back on the big stage, and the route to a season-defining trophy runs through Palace at Wembley. If the last three months taught us anything, it’s this: when the game slows down and the margins bite, Manchester City still know how to win.