Nottingham Forest 0-2 Manchester City

                                                         Lewis 5'

                                                         Gvardiol 51'

 

Wembley: the home of English Football. The host of the FA Cup semi-final. The Reds second visit since the rebuild. Last time they were here, promotion to the Premier League was won. Could they get themselves just 90 minutes away from lifting their first major trophy in 35 years?

Forest’s journey to the semi-final consisted of a 2-0 win over Luton Town and penalty shootout wins against Exeter City, Ipswich Town and Brighton. The Reds last reached this stage of the competition in 1991 when they went to the final only to lose to Tottenham Hotspur. City’s route to Wembley was a more straightforward. They kicked off their tournament with an 8-0 win over Salford City, followed by a 2-1 win over Leyton Orient. In the 5^th round, they defeated Plymouth Argyle before beating Bournemouth 2-1 to land a trip to the Arch for the 7^th time in a row. As for the league, at the Etihad, City were 3-0 winners but in the reverse fixture at the City Ground, Nuno’s men won 1-0.

The atmosphere was building many hours before the game. Red shirts the only sight on the iconic Wembley way. BoxPark filled with excitement, dancing, singing and ex-players supporting the boys. Inside the arch, a sea of red being built. Scarfs being swung and the buzz growing. Then Mull of Kintyre. Goosebumps. 35,000 Reds’ fans all unison. If City weren’t bringing the atmosphere, we certainly were. Gibbs-White lead our merry men out in the traditional Garibaldi and we were ready.

City found a rapid start to try and quiet the west side of Wembley. Mateo Kovacic had the ball in space as the Blues looked to create early pressure. Gibbs-White came out to engage him but the Croatian wriggled away from the challenge before managing to find a pass to Rico Lewis on the edge of the area through multiple Forest bodies. The 20-year-old took a touch and turned before shooting beyond Matz Sels and into the bottom left corner. The Blues were taking control and dominating possession; it took until the 22^nd minute for Forest’s first touch in City’s box. Nuno’s men did seem to calm and get a foothold in the game but they were nearly set back after Nico O’Reilly’s effort bounced narrowly wide. The Reds’ captain looked to get his team on the counter attack as he headed down for himself. However, O’Reilly managed to get his body in front of Gibbs-White to reclaim the ball. With a lovely bit of skill, he turned past the Forest midfielder before turning past Danilo too. After a few touches, the youngster took on the shot, looking for the bottom right corner but he couldn’t find it.

Despite controlling the first half, City’s only shot on target was Lewis’ goal. They were pressing Nuno’s men back as his side didn’t register a single shot in the first 45. There was still a long way to go though.

Anthony Elanga was introduced by his manager at halftime and he nearly levelled the score with his first touch. After a battle of headers in the middle of the park, Nicolas Dominguez controlled the ball and passed out to Callum Hudson-Odoi on the left. He continued his run before playing a lovely ball to Elanga who looked destined to score after sprinting away from his markers. The Swede tried to side foot the ball into the net but the bounce took it wide. Pep’s side quickly regained their dominance of possession forcing Sels into a good save. They had some link-up play down the right side before Sels saved from a tight angle. Milenkovic’s clearance landed as far as Savinho on the right and he waited for the overlapping run of Nunes. The Portuguese caused another good save from Sels on a tight angle. Kovacic looked to volley in the rebound but Zach Abbott got in the way before the ‘keeper had to scoop it off the line with his foot.

From the resulting corner, City did double their lead. Omar Marmoush whipped in the corner which Gvardiol got his head to first to find the back of the net. It was going to be an uphill battle now for the Reds but they weren’t doing out without a fight. The Blues found themselves with another corner which was cleared out to Marmoush on the left. He passed back to Grealish who sent through the Egyptian to let fly from a tight angle but once again Sels was there to tip it over the bar. From the resulting corner, Marmoush once again had the ball out on the left. He passed back to Kovavic but the pass was short so Gibbs-White could win the ball back with a delightful tackle. Elanga latched onto the ball before playing out to Chris Wood who had made a run on the left side. The Swede joined him on the left and received the ball back from his striker. He wriggled into the box before crossing into the danger area. Gibbs-White struck the ball sweetly on the volley but the effort was stopped by the crossbar.

In need of a goal, Forest were pressing the City backline. Under pressure from Dominguez, Gvardiol passed back to his goalkeeper but the pass was too short and Gibbs-White latched onto it. He managed to take it around Ortega but from a tight angle he could only find the inside of the post. Just when you thought it couldn’t get more unlucky for the Reds, they hit the woodwork for the third time in 15 minutes. Elanga had the ball out on the right and crossed the ball in towards the back post. Hudson-Odoi struck the ball on the volley only for it to hit Gvardiol. Luckily for Forest, it bounced back into the path of Taiwo Awoniyi who flicked it on towards goal, only to be denied by the post. Hudson-Oodi recycled and crossed the ball back into the danger area but Gibbs-White’s header was well stopped by Ortega. Time had run out for Forest and their wait for an FA Cup final goes on.

As soon as Morgan hit the crossbar, you just knew it wasn’t going to be our day. It’s very rare to hit the woodwork three times in one game but on another day we might’ve scored at least one of those. In the first half we showed City too much respect and it was quite a poor half. However, the resilience we showed in that second half was brilliant and we need to see that fight in our remaining games to get that Champions League qualification. I think most of us saw the team sheet and were confused about Zach Abbott’s start but he proved us all wrong. For just his second start at 18 to be at Wembley in a semi-final and to play like that is unbelievable. Despite the result, the day was still brilliant and we need to bring that atmosphere to help the boys get over the line. COYR!

 

Forest: Sels; Toffolo, Murillo, Milenkovic, Abbott (Sosa 83’); Danilo (Elanga 46’), Dominguez (Jota 82’); Anderson (Sangare 71’), Gibbw-White, Hudson-Odoi; Wood (Awoniyi 71’)

Man City: Ortega; O’Reilly, Gvardiol, Dias, Nunes; Kovacic (Nico 89’), Bernado Silva, Lewis; Grealish (Gundogan 71’); Marmoush (Doku 81’), Savinho (Foden 81’)