Manchester City suffered a third consecutive Premier
League defeat on Saturday as Liam Delap scored twice to lift Nottingham Forest
out of the relegation zone with a 3-1 win at the City Ground.
Oliver Glasner's side had not scored at home all
season, but they pounced on City's defensive errors to score twice in the first
20 minutes through Jair Cunha and Delap. Rayan Cherki's stunning strike gave
City hope, but their title challenge is fading rapidly, even before the
possible effects of a heavy points deduction.
Delap sealed only Forest's second win of the season
with a superb strike that went in off the post. The night could launch his
career at the club after a difficult start following his club-record £50
million ($67 million) move from Chelsea.
The defeat leaves City six points behind leaders
Arsenal and raises questions over whether the uncertainty around the club is
affecting their results on the pitch. Found guilty on more than 100 Premier
League charges of breaking financial rules, the 10-time English champions face
a severe points penalty unless they overturn the verdict on appeal.
Glasner had warned his players that he would make big
changes after a disappointing start to his reign left them in the bottom three
at kick-off. The Austrian got the response he wanted as Forest burst out of the
blocks and punished City's sloppiness at the back.
Cunha robbed Josko Gvardiol in the City half and was
allowed to run through on goal before slotting past Gianluigi Donnarumma. It
was Forest's first home goal in 511 minutes, and owner Evangelos Marinakis
jumped out of his seat to celebrate. Elliott Anderson had a night to forget on
his first return to Forest since his reported £116 million move to City. Xaver
Schlager beat him to the ball in midfield and set Delap running from inside his
own half, and the striker unleashed an unstoppable drive past Donnarumma for
his first home goal for the club.
Enzo Maresca had become the first Premier League
manager to win his first seven games in charge of a new club in a blistering
start to the job of succeeding Pep Guardiola. But he now faces the task of
keeping his players motivated when they do not know whether they will even be
in the top flight next season.
He showed his frustration with a double change at
half-time, bringing on Nico O'Reilly and Matheus Nunes, who helped spark a
brief City rally. Cherki smashed home a sweet strike from Jeremy Doku's
deflected cross to halve the deficit, and Erling Haaland nearly levelled when
he flashed a shot just wide.
City remained vulnerable to Forest's counter-attacks,
however, and were picked off again 15 minutes from time. Morgan Gibbs-White fed
Delap, who drilled in another brilliant finish past Donnarumma, this time with
his left foot.
The only consolation for City is that Forest's win
drops Manchester United into the relegation zone ahead of their clash with
Aston Villa on Sunday.
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