Pep Guardiola labeled Rico Lewis and Mateo Kovacic as “Extraordinary” after Manchester City Nottingham Forest defeated 2-0 in Wembley to reach a third straight FA Cup final.
Lewis opened the score within two minutes to become the youngest goal scorer of City at Wembley since Steve Mackenzie scored against Tottenham Hotspur in the 1981 final.
Josko Gvardiol took a header in a second half that is enough for the city to get the job done, while the midfielder Kovacic of Croatia was named Man of the Match after a diligent display.
Asked by ITV after the game if he provided Lewis who scored after selecting him in midfield, Guardiola said: “No. I am smart but not enough to see that, come on.
“But he is a player in this position in the bag that is extraordinary.”
Kovacic has been in good shape lately and has delivered a good version in the heart of the civil society, which was recognized by his manager.
“The last three or four games have been extraordinary,” he added.
“We are lucky that we are time to recover. He can't play every three or four days. The quality he has, the calmness is extraordinary.”
Full -time | We are through to the #Facup final!
0-2 #mancity | @okx pic.twitter.com/umrfjmzdgr
– Manchester City (@Mancity) April 27, 2025
City has qualified for the FA Cup final for the 14th time in their history with four of those who come under Guardiola, where only Chelsea (five) reached more finals in the competition since Guardiola took the lead over the club.
But they sometimes drove a bit on their luck, with replacement Anthony Elanga missing a great chance shortly for the goal of Gvardiol, while Morgan Gibbs-White hit the woodwork twice and Taiwo Awoniyi also hit the mail.
“A few months ago the (shots that hit the mail) enter, that's for sure,” Guardiola added.
“Everything is in the head, in the spirit of the players. We are in the final, it will be so difficult. Perspective will be taken in many years. Now we have four finals in the Premier League.
“I think these had opportunities in the game, this is a team with a match in hand that is higher than we are in the Premier League, so it's an extraordinary team.
“We expected that they would create opportunities, they might create a little more than the game we played perhaps one or two months ago. The pace they have is really good, in general I like most things.”