Nottingham Forest beat Manchester City 3-1: Delap scores twice and City lose a third league game in a row

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Nottingham Forest beat Manchester City 3-1 at the City Ground on Saturday 7 November, in the Premier League’s late game at 18:30 CET. Jair Cunha scored after six minutes and Liam Delap after 18. Rayan Cherki pulled one back for City early in the second half, and Delap scored again in the 73rd minute. It was Forest’s first home win of the season and City’s third league defeat in a row. Forest climb out of the bottom three; City stay second but are now six points behind Arsenal.

How it happened

Forest, 19th before kick-off with one win from nine, had not scored at home in the league since last May, according to ESPN, which carries the Press Association’s report. That ended in the sixth minute, when the defender Jair Cunha ran through and, in the report’s words, slotted past Gianluigi Donnarumma. Twelve minutes later Delap, who had scored once in his first eight games after his club-record move from Chelsea, scored his first goal at the City Ground, firing what the report calls an unstoppable shot past Donnarumma.

City had the best chance to get back into it before half-time. Sky Sports says Erling Haaland rounded the Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels in the 41st minute, only for the shot to be cleared. At half-time Enzo Maresca took off both Marc Guéhi and Joško Gvardiol; Sky Sports reports that he said afterwards that both had asked to come off with knocks, and that the changes were not tactical.

City scored seven minutes into the second half. Cherki, ESPN says, slammed a half-volley into the top corner. The game then turned on a Forest break in the 73rd minute: Morgan Gibbs-White returned the ball to Delap, whose finish went in off the post. Neither ESPN nor Sky Sports mentions a penalty, a red card or a decision by the video assistant referee (VAR, the official who reviews key decisions on a screen).

Ryan Yates made his first league start of the season for Forest, Sky Sports says. Oliver Glasner, Forest’s head coach, said afterwards that one swallow does not make a summer, according to Sky Sports; Maresca said his side had not matched the intensity the game required.

What it changes

Forest have nine points from ten games: two wins, three draws and five defeats. That lifts them to 16th, out of the relegation zone, level on points with Coventry City in 17th and ahead of them on goal difference. The result pushes Manchester United, on seven points from nine games, into 18th, the first of the three relegation places. United play Aston Villa at Old Trafford on Sunday at 17:30 CET, and Crystal Palace, also on seven points, host Liverpool at 15:00 CET. ESPN says the win ended a five-game winless run for Forest and was their first league win at the City Ground since April.

City have 21 points from ten games, seven wins and three defeats, no draws. Arsenal, who beat Hull City 1-0 earlier on Saturday, are on 27. Sky Sports says City are the first top-flight team in 122 years to win their first seven league games and then lose the next three. Brighton, third on 19 from nine games, can go above City if they beat Brentford on Sunday at 15:00 CET. The international break follows: there is no club match in the data after Sunday, so City’s next league game is after it.

What the market said

A betting price is a crowd’s opinion written as a number, and dividing 1 by the price gives a rough chance. The last price BettingBeast’s feed captured before kick-off, at 18:22 CET, made City the favourite at 1.67, about a 60% chance. The draw was 4.40, about 23%, and Forest 5.62, about 18%. Forest, the outsider, won. The price had moved towards City during the week: when the feed first carried the game, on 1 November at 18:22 CET, City were 1.75, about 57%, and Forest 4.81, about 21%. The goals line at the close was 2.5, with over at 1.69 and under at 2.41, and the game had four goals.

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