Nottingham Forest 3-1 Manchester City: Delap punishes the club that developed him

The first blow came from a high turnover. In the 6th minute, Jair Cunha took the ball off Josko Gvardiol, raced towards goal and beat Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Twelve minutes later, City again gave the ball away in their own half. Iliman Ndiaye let a second ball run away, allowing Xaver Schlager to win it, and Liam Delap did the rest. Starting from his own half, the English striker slipped between two defenders and beat Donnarumma. By the 18th minute, Forest led 2-0.

City had the ball without finding an opening. Their best chance of the first half came from Erling Haaland, who got past Matz Sels before seeing Jair block his shot on the line.

Enzo Maresca changed his defence at half-time, with Nico O'Reilly and Matheus Nunes replacing Gvardiol and Marc Guéhi. City pulled one back in the 52nd minute. Doku collected a long ball on the left, his cross was deflected to Rayan Cherki, and the Frenchman hit it first time from the edge of the box into Sels's top left corner. City then pushed for an equaliser without finding one.

Forest held firm, then killed the game on the counter. In the 73rd minute, Morgan Gibbs-White surged up the pitch and Delap finished with a shot that hit the inside of the far post before going in. Oliver Glasner ran halfway across the pitch to celebrate the goal with his players. The closing stages were played out low down, in front of Sels, with two Forest yellow cards in added time, one of them to Igor Jesus for time-wasting.

The ball at one end, the goals at the other

Manchester City had 78% of possession and played 771 passes to Forest's 208. Rúben Dias (127) and Elliot Anderson (116) played 243 between them, more than Glasner's entire team. Expected goals also favoured the visitors, 1.78 to 1.1, and City won seven corners to three.

But the shots tell a different story. Forest attempted 11 shots to 12, but put five on target, one more than City, and each goalkeeper had only two saves to make. Delap took three shots, hit the target with two and scored twice. The price of that resistance shows in the discipline: 13 fouls and four yellow cards for Forest, seven fouls and no bookings for City.

Three Forest goals born from winning the ball

All three Forest goals had the same origin: a ball taken off City and played quickly forward. The first was Jair winning the ball off Gvardiol, the second a ball won by Schlager after Ndiaye's hesitation, the third a counter started by Gibbs-White, who provided the assist on that last goal just as Schlager did on the previous one. City scored only once, from a direct move too, a long ball to Doku and a deflected cross finished by Cherki.

Forest chose to suffer, City gave too much away

SNA analysis: Forest never tried to contest possession. Set up in a 3-4-2-1, they pressed City's first build-up passes, then went quickly forward as soon as they won the ball. Glasner explained after the match that his team had to run and accept suffering, and that each of his players had given everything. The method paid off against a side that had 78% of the ball while almost never making it dangerous before the break.

For City, the defeat comes down first to losing the ball in their own half. Maresca admitted his players had lost too many duels and second balls in the first half. He also noted that his team was conceding too many goals and that he intended to use the break to understand why, while refusing to talk of panic.

The contrast with the start of the season is stark. Maresca himself recalled that his team had won seven games in a row before this run. City have now lost three league games in a row, at Aston Villa (2-1), against Brighton (0-1) and then at the City Ground. Forest, for their part, had not yet scored at home this season before this Saturday, having notably lost 0-1 twice, to Coventry and Arsenal.

A reshuffled defence, a booked Forest bench

Maresca explained afterwards that the two half-time substitutions were down to injuries. Matheus Nunes created two chances in 45 minutes. Phil Foden replaced Enzo Fernández in the 78th minute, and neither of his two shots was on target.

Glasner took off McAtee, booked in the 64th minute, and Muñoz in the 65th, for Dan Ndoye and Luca Netz. Both substitutes were booked, Ndoye in the 69th minute, Netz in added time. Ibrahim Sangaré replaced Ryan Yates in the 79th, and Igor Jesus took Delap's place in the 87th.

Ndiaye busy, Sangaré to shut up shop

Starting in the three behind Haaland, Senegalese midfielder Ndiaye played all 90 minutes. He completed four of seven dribbles, won five of nine duels and created two chances, with 50 passes played. He was also involved in the 2-0, with that uncontested second ball won by Schlager. SNA rating: 6.

On the Forest side, Ivorian Sangaré came on in the 79th minute to help protect the scoreline. In eleven minutes, he made two interceptions and a tackle, and went unrated for lack of sufficient playing time.

Forest breathe, Arsenal pull away

With 9 points from ten games, Nottingham Forest climb to 16th and move out of the relegation zone. Manchester City stay second with 21 points, six fewer than Arsenal, who beat Hull the same day. Delap summed up the day by saying his team had done everything right to take three points before the international break. City, for their part, will return with six points to make up on the leaders.

SNA Man of the Match: Liam Delap

Two goals against the club that developed him, from three shots, two on target, in 87 minutes. The first came from a run starting in his own half, the second finished off a counter, off the inside of the post and in. Forest's centre-forward played only eight passes: he needed no more to shape the game. SNA rating: 9.5.