Delap brace hands Forest a 3-1 home victory as Glasner celebrates

Nottingham Forest beat Manchester City 3-1 at the City Ground on Saturday in a Premier League match, with Jair Cunha opening the scoring and Liam Delap adding a second-half brace to secure the win.

The result was Forest's first league victory at the City Ground this season and provided a rare conversion of chances for a side that had been struggling for goals; before Saturday they had the second-most shots in the Premier League (152) but had scored the fewest goals (six), with the lowest shot conversion rate (4%) and the biggest negative expected-goals figure (-8.3).

Manager Oliver Glasner reacted with visible relief, celebrating in the technical area after Delap's first strike and sprinting down the touchline to join the players when Delap's third goal went in; the 52-year-old joked to BBC Match of the Day, "One of my best running stats, I guess," and added, "I will be fatigued tomorrow but I can be because it's the international break so I can have a rest."

Glasner also praised his players' defending and team spirit after the match, saying: "I think we've had better performances in possession because today we rarely had the ball. Regarding the team spirit, the energy, I think it was our best game." He continued, "The way we play football I think we've had many better games but how we defended, how passionately we defended, how tactically smart we defended, it was one of our better games."

Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy described the victory as "a huge moment in the season" for Forest and added, "Glasner's actually been unlucky in the first part of his Forest tenure in terms of points they've got with the performances they've had. So that's a huge deal for him and the club."

Delap, who spent 10 years in Manchester City's academy before leaving for Ipswich in 2019, scored twice after a period of poor form following a move to Chelsea; the article notes he managed just one goal in his first eight outings at the City Ground and that Forest paid £50m for him. Against City it was the first time this season he had two shots on target in a league match; he scored with two of his three attempts (a 67% conversion), having scored one goal from 24 shots in his first eight games (a 4% conversion).

Reflecting on his role and the importance of goals, Delap said: "As a striker it's the most important thing [to score goals]," adding, "The only thing you're judged on. You can play well and not score - really nice to score. Got to keep performing and improving but today I'm happy." Danny Murphy also commented on Delap's recent form and potential, saying: "I think in recent weeks watching him play, he's looked fit, he's looked strong, he's got himself in good positions, and today he got the rewards of some goals to add to the performance. Like any striker, he loves scoring goals, but his all-round performance was good. And if he can stay fit, his confidence grows bit by bit each week."

The win delivered goals where Forest had previously struggled to convert chances and gives the club a first home league victory of the season; Glasner indicated he will recover over the upcoming international break when he said he would be "fatigued tomorrow" but could rest because of the break.