PREMIER LEAGUE
Nottingham Forest 1-1 Manchester City, match report, summary, goals, highlights | Premier League 22/23
Three days after going joint top of the Premier League, City only manage a draw at Nottingham Forest.
Pep Guardiola ended the afternoon scratching his head, wondering how the return from his visit to Nottingham was just one point. Manchester City outperformed Forest in all aspects of the game, generating 22 chances to just four for the home team. But the league champions were erratic in their finishing, shooting off target and feeling rushed, ultimately paying for their mistakes by dropping two colossal points in the title race.
The game was a blitzkrieg offence on Keylor Navas’ goal from the start of the match. Nottingham Forest tried to defend in a Roman Tortoise formation, with shields in all directions, jumping forwards rapidly to take advantage of the speed of Brennan Johnson and Morgan Gibbs-White. Aymeric Laporte and Rúben Dias, at the centre of the visiting team’s defense, were in charge of containing the timid local attack. Even the blindest of bats could see it was only a matter of time before City broke the deadlock.
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Bernardo Silva put City ahead
And it happened. At the end of the break, Jack Grealish got on the end of a rebound after a corner kick was swung in by Phil Foden. He found Bernardo Silva on the edge of the area and the Portuguese scored with an early left foot shot. The ball cleared through a cloud of red shirts before surprising Navas, who couldn’t stop the shot from hitting the middle of the net.
City pressed even more in the second half. They enjoyed more chances and better opportunities. But their frustration also grew. Erling Haaland had a double chance after the hour mark, picking up a loose ball after a shot from Foden. The Norwegian, looking as dangerous as ever, smashed the ball into the post, then hit a shot over the bar from close range. Five minutes later, on minute 72, Navas saved a direct free kick from Ilkay Gündogan with his fingertips that ended up whacking off the crossbar.
Chris Wood crushes City dreams
The game went on and it looked as though City were going to take all three points, but five minutes from the end, the City Ground exploded. Johnson started a run down the right until he reached the edge of Ederson’s box. There, Gibbs-White hit a low ball in that crossed the Brazilian’s goal until it found the boot of the fresh-legged Chris Wood. The New Zealander only had to direct the ball towards goal to start the explosion of joy from the crowd. Nottingham Forest got a late point, and despite Guardiola’s changes, Manchester City stumbled at the first hurdle after taking the baton in midweek.
Premier League 2022/2023
| Classification | PTS | WM | TM | LM |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Arsenal | 54 | 17 | 3 | 3 |
| 2Manchester City | 52 | 16 | 4 | 4 |
| 3Manchester United | 46 | 14 | 4 | 5 |
| Upcoming matches | |
|---|---|
| Bournemouth - Manchester City | S-25/02 12:30 |
| Manchester City - Newcastle United | S-04/03 07:30 |
| Crystal Palace - Manchester City | S-11/03 12:30 |
*Data updated to date Feb 18th, 2023
- 12 Keylor Navas
- 38 Felipe Monteiro
- 4 Joe Worrall
- 32 Renan Augusto (78')
- 24 Aurier (78')
- 10 Morgan Gibbs-White
- 6 Shelvey (71')
- 28 Danilo (57')
- 8 Colback (57')
- 23 Freuler
- 20 Brennan Johnson
- Substitutes
- 15 Harry Toffolo (78')
- 5 Orel Mangala (71')
- 31 Gustavo Scarpa
- 7 Neco Williams (57')
- 16 Sam Surridge
- 13 Hennessey
- 25 Dennis Bonaventure
- 34 Ayew (57')
- 39 Wood (78')
- 31 Ederson Moraes
- 3 Rúben Dias
- 2 Walker
- 14 Laporte
- 16 Rodrigo
- 8 Gündogan
- 17 De Bruyne (87')
- 20 Bernardo Silva
- 47 Foden (88')
- 9 Erling Braut Haaland
- 10 Grealish
- Substitutes
- 25 Manuel Akanji
- 80 Cole Palmer
- 21 Sergio Gómez
- 19 Julián Álvarez (87')
- 18 Stefan Ortega
- 82 Rico Lewis
- 26 Mahrez
- 6 Aké (88')
- 4 Kalvin Phillips
Substitutions
Neco Williams (57', Jack Colback), André Ayew (57', Danilo), Orel Mangala (71', Jonjo Shelvey), Harry Toffolo (78', Renan Lodi), Chris Wood (78', Sèrge Aurier), Julián Álvarez (87', Kevin De Bruyne), Nathan Aké (88', Phil Foden)
Goals
0-1, 40': Bernardo Silva, 1-1, 83': Wood
Cards
Referee: Graham Scott
VAR Referee: Peter Bankes, Sian Massey-Ellis
Joe Worrall (13',Yellow) Guardiola (65',Yellow)
