Liam Delap scores twice as Nottingham Forest beat Manchester City 3-1

Nottingham Forest 3-1 Manchester City

Nottingham Forest pulled themselves out of the Premier League drop zone with a 3-1 victory over Manchester City at the City Ground, as Liam Delap scored twice and Oliver Glasner’s side outran their opponents by six kilometres.

The win ended a barren run that had left Forest goalless and winless at home this season, forcing fans to wait nearly six months and watch eight-and-a-half hours of football without seeing a goal at the ground. Jair Cunha tracked Josko Gvardiol, dispossessed him, and ran through to score with his left foot.

'BELTER!' 🔥 Liam Delap doubles Nottingham Forest's lead over Manchester City | Premier League

Delap Strikes Twice as Forest Expose City

Glasner’s side doubled their advantage twelve minutes later. Xaver Schlager beat former Forest player Elliot Anderson to the ball in midfield, sending Delap through to lash in his second goal for the club. Manchester City looked stunned, with James McAtee nearly adding a third before Enzo Maresca’s men managed a response.

Erling Haaland rounded goalkeeper Matz Sels only to see Cunha clear his goal-bound shot, while Enzo Fernandez missed a header from Marc Guehi’s cross. Rayan Cherki pulled one back for City early in the second half with a fierce long-range strike, but Morgan Gibbs-White later fed Delap on the counter-attack, allowing the striker to find the top corner of the net and secure the points in front of watching owner Evangelos Marinakis.

FULL-TIME SCENES and Liam Delap's interview after Nottingham Forest's win over Manchester City! 🎥🌳

Managers Assess Intensity and Transition Errors

Manchester City head coach Enzo Maresca pointed to midfield duels and transition play after his team became the first top-flight side in 122 years to win their first seven matches before losing three in a row.

It is quite clear that first half was not good enough. We didn’t match the intensity that these kind of games required. We conceded one, we conceded two and then we tried to react. In the second half we started much, much better. We scored one, we didn’t score any more.

Maresca added that the second and third goals conceded were copy-and-paste errors resulting from lost duels in the middle of the pitch and at the edge of the box. Both Guehi and Gvardiol were substituted at half-time, though Maresca confirmed they asked to come off due to knocks rather than tactical changes.

Liam Delap scores twice as Nottingham Forest beat Manchester City 3-1

Oliver Glasner joked in his press conference about his own workload during the match, referencing his touchline celebration for the third goal.

I had to run more than Enzo Maresca as well and I did my job.

Glasner also credited skipper Ryan Yates, making his first start of the season, with delivering an inspirational pre-match speech. However, the Forest manager remained grounded about what the result meant for the wider season.