Boss Pep Guardiola has told Manchester City they cannot get “confused” this season has been a success after reaching the FA Cup final.
Rico Lewis and Josko Gvardiol were on target as City beat Nottingham Forest to book a date with Crystal Palace on Saturday, 17 May.
It will be their third straight FA Cup final and the chance of an eighth success in the competition, while Palace have never won a major trophy.
The competition is also City’s only chance of major silverware this season, apart from the Community Shield, as their run of four straight Premier League titles ended with Liverpool officially crowned champions on Sunday.
With his side fourth in the table, 21 points adrift of Arne Slot’s side, Guardiola warned an FA Cup triumph, and reaching next season’s Champions League with a top-five finish, will not be enough to mask a disappointing campaign.
“No,” he said. “The damage would be minimum. It’s not going to confuse [that] the season has been good. The club has to take the decision, the right ones, so next season will be better.
“We are a thousand million points behind Liverpool. I said many times the season hasn’t been good because we define if the season is good or not with the Premier League.
“This season it could not happen, at the same time we tried to avoid the damage. We have to be calm now and recover.”
Lewis’ second-minute goal put City in control, with the England international impressing in midfield, having been pushed up from his regular full-back role.
The 20-year-old believes his side are now moving in the right direction after their faltering mid-season form proved costly in domestic and European competitions.
“We can go on about excuses but it wasn’t good enough at the start of the season and now we’re picking ourselves back up and we’ve got momentum,” said Lewis. “We’ve got the chance of a trophy now and hopefully be in the top four to take into next season.
“We showed character, this season we showed character. It’s not been smooth sailing but we have picked ourselves up and shown we are a top team.
“We have top players and we can get through tough situations. Now we are on the up we can take it into next season.”
BBC
