Delap double fires Nottingham Forest to 3-1 win over Manchester City, hands City third straight league loss
Liam Delap scored twice as Nottingham Forest defeated Manchester City 3-1 at Forest’s home in the Premier League on Saturday, handing City their third league defeat in a row.
Manchester City had won their first seven games of the season but looked vulnerable and have now lost three consecutive league matches, while Forest had been second bottom of the table despite performances that suggested better fortune was due. Oliver Glasner, following public frustration last week, made two changes from the side beaten at Brentford, with Ola Aina and Dan Ndoye dropping out for Daniel Muñoz and Ryan Yates; Glasner spoke of the need for “trust and respect” in the right balance and said there had been too much Woodstock and not enough “high-performance nature of military”.
Forest took the lead after six minutes when Jair Cunha dispossessed Josko Gvardiol and ran through to score, Forest’s first home goal since Morgan Gibbs-White’s strike against Bournemouth 34 minutes into the final game of last season, ending a 510-minute home drought. No side this season had underperformed their xG by such a margin as Forest; they began the weekend third in Opta’s expected table but second bottom of the actual table.
Delap opened his account 18 minutes in, surging from inside his own half and running between Rúben Dias and Marc Guéhi before lifting his shot over Gianluigi Donnarumma. The England striker’s confidence was singled out in the report, with his run and finish presented as evidence of a different attacking threat when he is in form.
City responded early in the second half when, seven minutes after the restart, a long diagonal set Jérémy Doku in behind Daniel Muñoz and Rayan Cherki slammed in a half-volley to pull a goal back. The goal immediately altered the atmosphere and reintroduced the pressure on Forest after a first half in which James McAtee had missed two presentable chances for the home side.
Guéhi’s performance was singled out as a concern for City, with the original piece noting that, with Dias wary of Xaver Schlager running to his right, Guéhi should have closed down Delap but instead left a large channel; both Guéhi and Gvardiol were withdrawn at half-time. Forest also came close to further reward when a Ryan Yates shot deflected off Elliot Anderson and hit the back of the bar.
Forest’s third goal came after sustained pressure: Gibbs-White set Delap away on a counter and Delap swept into the box to drive his finish in off the far post, restoring a two-goal cushion. The home side defended with blocks, headers and last-ditch clearances to preserve the lead.
The victory moves Forest out of the relegation zone and eases some of the immediate pressure on Glasner, while the loss raises questions about City’s challenge; the article concluded that the idea City might challenge Arsenal for the title, even if there is no points deduction, is beginning to look a little fanciful.