Rico Lewis scored after just 109 seconds to send Manchester City on their way to a third consecutive FA Cup final following a 2-0 defeat of Nottingham Forest at Wembley.

Josko Gvardiol extended City’s advantage after 51 minutes before they rode their luck when Morgan Gibbs-White hit the crossbar, and then the post, as Forest attempted a comeback.

Taiwo Awoniyi struck the City woodwork for a third time for Forest with 10 minutes remaining.

But on the day they were dethroned by Liverpool as Premier League champions, Pep Guardiola’s side survived to keep their sole hope of finishing the season with silverware alive.

City, who won the FA Cup in 2023 and finished runners-up last season, will now face Crystal Palace on May 17 following their 3-0 win against Aston Villa here a day earlier.

City failed to sell 5,000 of their allocated seats, and it was the Forest supporters – revelling in their first FA Cup semi-final in 34 years – who were making all the noise prior to the match.

But they were stunned into silence with fewer than two minutes gone when Lewis opened the scoring.

Lewis found Mateo Kovacic before he ghosted unmarked to the edge of the penalty area. When he received the ball back from Kovacic, Lewis took one touch to set himself before unleashing a fizzing effort with his next that Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels could do little to prevent from sailing into the bottom corner.

Lewis’ impressive early strike set the tone for an opening half totally dominated by Guardiola’s side. Indeed, for the first 10 minutes, Forest had only a handful of touches.

After 16 minutes, Omar Marmoush thrashed over when he might have hit the target, with defender Nico O’Reilly seeing his long-range shot going wide.

Forest ended a desperately bleak first half for them by failing to register a single shot, with City looking well on course to book their place in next month’s showpiece.

Forest needed a spark and manager Nuno Espirito Santo turned to Anthony Elanga – a surprise omission from his starting line-up – at the interval.

And the substitute had a golden chance to haul Forest level after just 57 seconds of his introduction.

Callum Hudson-Odoi’s pinpoint pass found Elanga unmarked, but the Sweden forward hit his shot wide of Stefan Ortega’s goal.

It proved to be a vital miss with City doubling their lead moments later.

Sels saved Matheus Nunes’ first shot with Kovacic’s follow-up striking Zach Abbott before a wrong-footed Sels reacted well to turn the ball round with his feet.

City wanted a penalty with Kovacic’s shot clearly hitting Abbott’s outstretched hand. Surprisingly perhaps, VAR did not intervene, and referee Michael Oliver pointed for a City corner rather than to the spot.

City had every right to feel aggrieved but they need not have worried after Gvardiol outjumped Murillo from Marmoush’s corner to head home.

Marmoush nearly added a third shortly after the hour mark only to see his effort tipped over by Sels.

Then, at the other end, Forest came close to halving City’s lead when Gibbs-White’s stunning 20-yard volley crashed off Ortega’s crossbar. Forest’s best moment of the game so far brought them to life.

With 20 minutes to go, Gibbs-White pounced on Gvardiol’s dreadful back pass before rounding Ortega only to hit the City goalkeeper’s post when he should have scored.

And Ortega saw his woodwork tested for a third time through Forest substitute Awoniyi. The City keeper then saved well from Gibbs-White’s follow-up header.

That would be as close as Forest would come with Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher leading the celebrations as City secured their place in the final.