WEMBLEY — Everything was in place. Robin Hood-inspired Nottingham Forest, as their pre-FA Cup semi-final tifo suggested, were ready to steal from the rich, at their most vulnerable.
Two minutes in, and all dreams of cup glory to finish this season of all seasons for Forest, had been extinguished.
Yes, City had what has become customary in this bizarre season of Pep Guardiola nadirs, their usual pre-match wobble, where Forest hit the woodwork three times and missed other gilt-edged chances.
He's one of their own
Local lad, Rico Lewis gives @ManCity the dream start #EmiratesFACup pic.twitter.com/0gPa7NEmNk
And the fact they are starting to rekindle that aura should be of serious concern to everyone else.
“With them, with this type of game, the only thing we missed was we could break the lines in the middle but we were aggressive. I didn’t want it to be an open game. It helped us in the first minutes to score a goal, we continued to play at that tempo.
“This season has not been good. We are a thousand million points behind Liverpool. It’s not good. We were always a machine and we have not been good but the damage will be minor. The club have to take the right decisions so next season will be better.”
Player of the match: Mateo Kovacic
When he is in this mood, you cannot get him off the ball, or far enough away from it.But, as Guardiola pointed out this week, given this was just Forest’s second match at Wembley since its reopening in 2007, compared to City’s 28th at the “new” Wembley as a neutral venue, City supporters can be forgiven for being all too happy to avoid the Sunday Euston havoc and watch from afar.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s impressive charges rely on stifling opponents, allowing frustration to kick in before then pouncing on the counter. In front, City could spend the rest of the first half doing what they do best – controlling possession to their will.
The champions should, given their dominance, really have added to their slender advantage. In recent years gone by, or had Erling Haaland been fit, they almost certainly would have been.
Forest needed the break to regroup, rethink, appearing for the second half a different proposition altogether. Half-time substitute Anthony Elanga should have levelled just after the restart, before City upped the ante, just a touch, as they do, to extend their lead, through Josko Gvardiol’s header from a corner.
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Taiwo Awoniyi was next to clatter the woodwork from close range. When Stefan Ortega clawed out the rebound, Forest knew it was not going to be their day.
From their lofty position among the pantheon of greats, given just how relentlessly imperious they became, the drop-off in many ways resembles that of their noisy neighbours.
The major difference between the trajectories both sides are on, however, is United’s embarrassment is showing no sign of ceasing. Quietly going about six wins in their last seven and booking cup final spots, though, is very, very City.
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