Manchester City are into the FA Cup final after beating Nottingham Forest 2-0 at Wembley Stadium – and Pep Guardiola has left raving about one player in particular after the game.
Manchester City have the chance to end the season on a high, as they return to the capital next month to face Crystal Palace in the final.
It has been a very difficult season at times. But City do now have the chance to end the campaign in the right way, and fans would love to see the club seal Champions League qualification and win an eighth FA Cup.
City enjoyed a comfortable first-half against Forest on Sunday, after taking an early lead through Rico Lewis.
But Forest improved considerably after the break, and had several great chances to get back into the game, and struck the woodwork three times.
City grabbed a second through Josko Gvardiol.
The Citizens had some strong individual performers today, but perhaps none better than Mateo Kovacic – and the Croatian maestro came in for some very high praise from Pep Guardiola straight after the game.
Pep Guardiola raves over Mateo Kovacic as Man City beat Nottingham Forest to reach FA Cup final
City have struggled a lot at times this season, but £30 million signing Kovacic (BBC Sport) has been one player who has been relatively consistent throughout.
He has come in for criticism at times.
But that has often felt harsh, given how hard the role is to play.
Kovacic has done a good job in there in place of the injured Rodri, and has also chipped in with seven goals – meaning it’s his best ever goalscoring season.
After the win at Wembley, Guardiola was asked for his thoughts about Kovacic, and whether he is currently in his best form.
And the Manchester City manager did not miss a beat.
He said on ITV: “Yes. The last three or four games have been extraordinary. We are lucky to have time to recover, he plays in the week. Players cannot play with three days (rest).
“The quality that he has, the composure, is extraordinary.”
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Mateo Kovacic shines vs Nottingham Forest
Kovacic – who was recently reported to be a target for Atletico Madrid – was named the official Man of the Match against Forest, and deservedly so.
He completely controlled the game at times in midfield, and especially for large parts of the first-half.
Kovacic always offered himself as an option, and strode forward with the ball when he could.
As per Sofascore data, the star completed an incredible 88/94 passes (94% accuracy). Two of these were ‘key’
He also had 109 touches, which was just one less than Ruben Dias who had the most.
Furthermore, Kovacic also contested 13 duels (winning seven). Only Morgan Gibbs-White contested more.
