Liam Delap scored twice against his former club as Nottingham Forest beat Manchester City 3-1 at the City Ground on Saturday, a first home Premier League win of the season for Oliver Glasner's side and a third straight league defeat for Enzo Maresca's team.
Jair Cunha gave Forest the lead after six minutes and Delap doubled it in the 18th. Rayan Cherki pulled one back early in the second half, but Delap struck again on the counter-attack in the 73rd minute to leave City six points behind leaders Arsenal going into the international break.
Match facts
- Result: Nottingham Forest 3-1 Manchester City (half-time 2-0)
- Competition: Premier League, Matchweek 10
- Venue: The City Ground, Nottingham
- Scorers: Forest - Jair Cunha 6', Delap 18', 73'; Man City - Cherki 52'
- Assists: Schlager (18'), Gibbs-White (73')
- Red cards: None
- Attendance: 30,762
- Next: Bournemouth v Nottingham Forest and Manchester City v Fulham, both Saturday 21 November
How the match unfolded
Forest had not scored in four home league games this season, but they needed only six minutes to end that wait. Centre-back Jair Cunha pressed high, took the ball off Josko Gvardiol and ran through to finish low into the bottom left corner past Gianluigi Donnarumma with his left foot.
The second goal came from another turnover. Xaver Schlager won the ball in midfield against Elliot Anderson and released Delap on a fast break, and the striker drove a right-footed shot into the roof of the net.
City slowly found a foothold. Enzo Fernández headed over from close range from Marc Guéhi's cross, Matz Sels saved from Erling Haaland, and in the 41st minute Haaland rounded the Forest goalkeeper only for Cunha to clear his shot off the line.
Maresca replaced Guéhi and Gvardiol, who both had knocks according to Sky Sports, with Matheus Nunes and Nico O'Reilly at half-time, and City scored within seven minutes of the restart. Cherki met the ball first time in the centre of the box and sent a left-footed half-volley into the top left corner.
The visitors pressed for an equaliser, and Haaland curled a shot just wide of the top corner in the 57th minute. But as City pushed forward, gaps opened behind them. In the 73rd minute Morgan Gibbs-White fed Delap on another fast break, and the forward finished with his left foot from the left side of the box into the top right corner. Glasner sprinted down the touchline to join the celebrations.
Phil Foden came on for Fernández, but Forest held on through four minutes of stoppage time.
What the managers said
"It is quite clear that the first half was not good enough. We didn't match the intensity that these kind of games required," Maresca told his post-match press conference, as reported by Sky Sports. He told City's official website: "We won the first seven [Premier League games of the season], which had never happened. Now we lost three. It's football."
Glasner, asked about his touchline run after the third goal, joked: "I had to run more than Enzo Maresca as well and I did my job." Asked whether the result could be a turning point, he added: "We have a saying in Austria. One swallow does not make a summer."
What the result means
City stay on 21 points from 10 games after seven straight wins to start the season were followed by defeats at Aston Villa, at home to Brighton and now at Forest. Arsenal, who beat Hull City 1-0 earlier on Saturday, have 27 points.
Forest move on to nine points, and this was only their second league win of the season after a 2-1 victory at Aston Villa in September. Their previous game ended in a 2-0 defeat at Brentford, after a 1-1 draw at Ipswich.
After the break, Forest visit Bournemouth on Saturday 21 November (15:00 UK), while City host Fulham the same day (12:30 UK). More from the round is in our Premier League section.
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