Manchester City lost to Nottingham Forest 1-0 at City Ground this afternoon. This defeat prevents City from moving up the table and keeps them in fourth place, while Nottingham solidifies their position in third.
The match was decided by a late goal from Callum Hudson-Odoi, who scored after receiving a pass from Morgan Gibbs-White and striking the ball past City’s goalkeeper, Ederson.Throughout the game, City had several scoring opportunities. Nico and Kevin De Bruyne both attempted shots, while Mateo Kovacic nearly equalized with a half-volley that missed the target in the final moments.
Despite their efforts, City could not find the back of the net and ultimately suffered the defeat. The match took place this sunny afternoon with Nottingham Forest fans enthusiastically singing their pre-match anthem, “Mull of Kintyre.” Just before the match started, supporters honored former Forest player and City manager Stuart Pearce, who had taken ill on a flight before the game.
City started the match strong, with Erling Haaland seeing an early shot miss narrowly after a mistake from Chris Wood. Nico, aiming to control the midfield, took a powerful shot from 25 yards out, which struck the post and nearly gave City an early lead. The visitors clearly pushef for a goal right from the beginning.
Late in the first half, Jeremy Doku had a chance to score but shot directly at Forest goalkeeper from 20 yards after skillfully moving into position. Despite their hard work, Nottingham Forest struggled to create clear scoring opportunities. Morgan Gibbs-White mishit a shot that went wide, and Chris Wood failed to chip the ball over Ederson.
In the second half, Forest had the first scoring attempt when Anthony Elanga’s cross found Nicolas Dominguez, whose volley was easily saved by Ederson. For the next 15 minutes, both teams pushed hard but could not create any clear chances.
To change the game, City’s manager made substitutions later on. Mateo Kovacic and Rico Lewis came on for Nico and Matheus Nunes, followed shortly by Kevin De Bruyne and Omar Marmoush replacing Phil Foden and Savinho. Ederson also made an impressive save, pushing a powerful shot from Callum Hudson-Odoi onto the post.
With time running out, Hudson-Odoi scored for Forest at the 83rd minute, beating Ederson at his near post to give the hosts a 1-0 lead. Abdukodir Khusanov made a crucial block shortly after to prevent Wood from doubling the score. City almost equalized when Kovacic’s half-volley in stoppage time went just wide.
Unfortunately for City, the game ended with Forest celebrating their victory as the referee blew the final whistle. City remain in fourth spot in the Barclays Premier League following defeat at the City Ground.
Pep Guardiola said post match: “We have to win games and if we don’t win enough games in a row to be secure, it will be a battle. We have 10 games left and we have to win a lot of games to qualify. It’s as simple as that.
“To find a way, you have to play better. You have to find something. It will not come from the sky. You have to do it. In situations you have to find something.
“The situation is what it is, we have 10 games left starting next Saturday against Brighton, international break after and then we will see what happens.”
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