Chris Wood scored a late winner to help Nottingham Forest produce one of the close football scores of the weekend in the Premier League. A solitary goal from Silva in the 41st minute looked to have re-established City’s lead, but for an incredible second-half comeback from Steve Cooper’s side, who converted their sole attempt on goal with six minutes remaining. In an attempt to reply to previous criticisms that he isn’t the right fit for City’s style of play, Erling Haaland struck the crossbar before shooting the subsequent rebound wildly over in the second half, as the wasteful visitors couldn’t convert their dominance into more than a single point.
It remains to be seen how significant these two dropped points will be in the hunt for the Premier League title, with Pep Guardiola admitting he was “sad and disappointed” not to have capitalized on substantial momentum in the game. Forest is now unbeaten in eight home league games, winning half of them – their greatest home unbeaten run in the Premier League since 1996.
Another twist in the interesting story of a Premier League title charge. After Silva’s first-half stunner, City appeared set to swap places at the top with Arsenal, but obstinate Forest had other plans, led excellently by captain Joe Worrall, who was a rock at the back. The hosts rode their luck the entire game, enduring 23 attempts on Keylor Navas’ goal, but City could only make one stick. City’s squandered opportunities, including two from Haaland, were particularly costly when Wood arrived at the back post in the 84th minute to tap in Morgan Gibbs-low White’s cross.
The draw detracts from City’s midweek victory against Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal at the Emirates, which gave them a foothold at the top before being pegged back three days later by the league’s 13th-placed club. Nevertheless, the visitors had several chances to make it 2-0 before Wood’s crucial intervention, with Phil Foden, Aymeric Laporte, and Rodri all missing good chances. In the 63rd minute, Laporte was perfectly unmarked from Kevin De Bruyne’s corner but headed straight at Navas, while Foden’s fumbled shot was carelessly blazing over the bar by Haaland moments after.
Defiant Forest also required Navas to push Ilkay Gundogan’s fizzing free-kick over the crossbar, allowing Wood to pounce late on, but not before Guardiola was given a yellow card for his overenthusiastic display of fury on the sidelines.
“We gave a fantastic display but did not score. We could defend better with more vigor from the goal. That should be two or three zeros in the first half. We lose points, which is unfortunate and upsetting. But the manner we played was excellent. Today was not our lucky day,” Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola said. “It used to be 15 games [till the end of the season], but now it’s 14. We create opportunities and are skilled at changes, but we also miss opportunities. We simply did not score. We don’t make a lot of excuses. I’m not here to discuss something over which we have no influence. I complained to the fourth official and received a well-deserved yellow card. They offer everything when they give everything. There was an attempt to win. We played well, but we barely missed the second goal. We must examine ourselves; we can do better. Now, we blow far too many clear opportunities. It happens from time to time.”
“We were expecting the game to look like this. That was something we had planned for. You’re up against a fantastic team – the finest in the world at the domestic level. To get anything out of the game, you have to surrender your values,” Nottingham Forest head coach Steve Cooper said. “We devised a strategy to try to make anything of it. They controlled both the ball and the territory. When you play them, you need a little luck, and we earned it. I’m dissatisfied with VAR since the goal is clearly a foul on Joe Worrall. VAR has failed the referee there. They needed a pleasant weekend more than anything else. This is yet another topic of discussion. That has disappointed us.”
For more football scores, click here
