In Less Than Two Months, Manchester City Has Completely Transformed

LONDON, SUNDAY - Manchester City's advancement to the FA Cup final is indeed not without a stroke of luck. However, Lady Luck does not favor on her own. The team, managed by Josep Guardiola, compelled that favor through a solid and mature performance from the very start.

Guardiola did not deny this after City won against Nottingham Forest 2-0 in the semifinal match at Wembley Stadium, London, on Sunday (27/4/2025) evening WIB. "Of course, we were lucky. They had some (big) chances. We cannot deny that," he stated.

Forest players seemed to have a friendly relationship with the goalposts at Wembley. Their shots hit the post three times in the second half. Midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White even contributed two of those. Unfortunately, Forest ended the match with only one shot on target.

Forest could speculate, for instance, if the shot at the post had shifted a few centimeters. Nevertheless, all these efforts came after City took a two-goal lead. City successfully shifted the pressure onto the opposing team from the very first two minutes, following the opening goal scored by midfielder Rico Lewis.

The Forest players are not accustomed to the pressure of elimination matches, unlike City. This marks Forest's first semifinal appearance since 1990 in the oldest competition. Head coach Nuno Espirito Santo acknowledged that falling behind early in the match disrupted all of his plans.

"We started the match very poorly. That made everything more difficult. We had to take time to feel comfortable, to adjust to the situation. After that, the momentum changed in the second half. We had opportunities that could have changed the story at the end of the match," said Santo.

It is only natural that Forest was somewhat surprised by City's raid. They are the last witnesses to the downward trend of Guardiola's team. Precisely in early March, Gibbs-White and his teammates successfully won 1-0 against City in the league. That result marked City's fifth defeat in nine matches.

Since that moment, City suddenly rose again to become a giant team as it once was. They remained unbeaten in seven consecutive matches, winning five of them. The confidence of Kevin De Bruyne and his teammates, which had seemingly vanished, appears to have been reborn with a series of positive results.

Confidence radiated from the appearance of the City squad, which was so energetic every time they returned to the field, as seen at the beginning of both the first and second halves. After a quick goal from Lewis, they surprised Forest again just five minutes after the break with a goal from defender Josko Gvardiol.

In addition to momentum and confidence, a quick goal is the biggest differentiating factor for City compared to previous matches. They were able to avoid Forest's strategy of defending very deep and aiming for counterattacks. The City players managed the transitions very well.

Lewis stated that the players are highly motivated because the FA Cup is the only trophy that can be achieved at the end of this season. "I think it doesn't matter what the competition is, we always want to win. That (the FA Cup) is very important for us, especially this season," he said.

On the other hand, the absence of striker Erling Haaland since the end of March has been a hidden blessing for City. The team's attack has become much more dynamic, no longer centered around Haaland. As seen earlier, winger Savinho and attacking midfielder Omar Marmoush were assigned as the spearheads.

City has been awaited by the mid-table team Crystal Palace in the final match. This match could add to City's collection, bringing it to eight FA Cup trophies, or it could present a new champion. Meanwhile, Palace has always lost in the previous two finals, in 1990 and 2016, both against City's rival, Manchester United.

According to Guardiola, this positive trend is likely to continue until the end of the season. They are currently in full throttle mode, as has always been the case in previous seasons. The difference is that the performance of City has been too poor from the beginning until the end of this season.

"We are very pleased to return to the final (for three consecutive seasons). This season is clearly not over, including in the league. We are striving to mitigate the impact of the damage by qualifying for the Champions League. The last five matches, four in the league and one in the FA Cup, will be finals for us," explained Guardiola.

Interestingly, the battle between City and Forest will continue after Wembley. Both teams are still in close competition for a top five position in the league. City is in fourth place with 61 points from 34 matches, followed closely by Forest in sixth place (60 points from 33 matches). (AP/REUTERS)