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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."
After starting the season with a 13-game unbeaten run, City won just once in their next 13 in all competitions.
They had slipped to seventh place on Boxing Day after a 1-1 draw with Everton, but have managed to climb back into Champions League contention.
Guardiola's side also suffered their earliest exit from the Champions League for 12 years after losing to Real Madrid in the knockout play-offs in February.
They continued to stutter, thrashed 5-1 at Arsenal in February while Forest beat them 1-0 at the City Ground in March.
But City have won six of their last seven games, including their last-gasp 2-1 success over top-five rivals Aston Villa on Tuesday.
Midfielder Mateo Kovacic added: "We found ourselves again. The team is getting stronger, everyone is 100% focused. A lot of players came back very strong.
"When we are all back we are a strong team. This season has not been how we wanted, but we are in another FA Cup final and in the top four."
Lewis' early opener silenced the 35,000 Forest fans behind the goal and Nuno Espirito Santo's side failed to land a blow on City before the break.
Substitute Anthony Elanga should have made it 1-1, firing wide a minute after coming on at the start of the second half, but Gvardiol's 51st-minute header put the game beyond reach.
Gibbs-White smacked the bar from the edge of the area with an audacious volley, before hitting the post from a tight angle after rounding City keeper Stefan Ortega following Gvardiol's mistake.
Taiwo Awoniyi also hit the woodwork with an instinctive effort following more Forest pressure.
"We started really badly again, it makes everything hard. It took time to feel comfortable and adjust," said Nuno.
"The first half was difficult and in the second half the momentum changed a little bit. We had a couple of chances which could put the game in a different story. The boys gave it all, we have to accept we lost."
Forest next host Brentford in the Premier League on Thursday, sitting sixth in the table but knowing victory will return them to third place and maintain their push for a Champions League spot.
"It's a sad day," added Nuno. "It's going to be hard, but when we wake up and the sadness is gone we know we have big things ahead of us to fight for.
"It can only bring us more energy for the last moments of the season."
Midfielder Gibbs-White also looked to lift Forest, who beat relegation on the final day of last season.
He said: "We've got to put this behind us now and focus on the league. Five big finals, we are going to give it our absolute everything and hope for the best."
