Man City beat Forest 2 0 to reach third straight FA Cup final

LONDON - Manchester City beat Nottingham Forest 2-0 at Wembley on April 27 to reach their third straight FA Cup final, with goals from Rico Lewis and Josko Gvardiol keeping alive Citys hopes of avoiding a rare season without a trophy.

Lewis scored inside two minutes when he was fed by the influential Mateo Kovacic and given time and space to fire into the bottom corner and silence the Forest fans.

Conceding an early goal was certainly not in the gameplan for Forest, who struggled to gain a foothold in the first half, registering just 25 per cent possession and no shots on goal.

We started really badly, City started really well, Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo told reporters, adding that conceding so early makes everything hard.

The halftime introduction of Anthony Elanga almost turned the tie for Forest, but he scuffed Callum Hudson-Odois cross wide with his first touch in the 46th minute.

City punished the miss five minutes later when Gvardiol rose highest to nod home an Omar Marmoush corner for his sixth goal of the campaign.

Forest, seeking to reach their first FA Cup final since 1991, went close to pulling one back with Morgan Gibbs-White cannoning a volley off the bar with City goalkeeper Stefan Ortega beaten.

Ive never hit a ball as sweetly on my weak foot in my life, Gibbs-White told ITV. As soon as that hit the crossbar I knew it wasnt going to be our day.

Gibbs-White hit the post again with 20 minutes to play after Gvardiol was caught in possession, rounding Ortega but unable to finish from a tight angle.

Im devastated, Gibbs-White said. I feel sorry for the fans. I hold my hands up and apologise, I shouldve scored at least one of them.

Substitute Taiwo Awoniyi also hit