Five Things Learned: Nottingham Forest 1-0 Manchester City (Premier League) | OneFootball

Manchester City lost their ninth Premier League game this term in a disappointing display against fellow Champions League hopefuls Nottingham Forest at the City Ground.

City returned to Premier League action on Saturday afternoon after securing a place in the FA Cup quarter-final courtesy of a 3-1 comeback win over Plymouth Argyle last week.

In the early stages, Pep Guardiola’s men struggled to cope with the atmosphere at the City Ground – a stadium known for giving the visiting team a hard time. After Saturday’s result, the reigning Premier League champions have recorded a 1-1 draw, a 0-2 win and a 1-0 defeat away at Forest since the Reds got promoted to England’s top division back in 2022.

Forest had the upper hand early on though end product was lacking from both sides to begin with. It wasn’t until the 42nd minute that City had a shot – thanks to a low driven effort from distance by Jeremy Doku, who kept his place in the starting XI after impressive outings against Liverpool and Tottenham in recent weeks.

In the second half, the hosts defended superbly, nullifying the visitors. Guardiola made some changes to shift the momentum back in City’s favour – with Nico González, Matheus Nunes, Phil Foden and Savinho replaced by Mateo Kovacic, Rico Lewis, Kevin De Bruyne and Omar Marmoush respectively.

Ederson made an incredible save to deny Anthony Elanga but couldn’t stop Callum Hudson-Odoi’s shot at the near post after 83 minutes, with the English winger netting the winner after collecting Morgan Gibbs-White’s diagonal long ball. The result sees Nottingham Forest (51) open a four-point lead over City in the race for Champions League qualification.

Here are Five Things We Learned from Manchester City’s 1-0 loss against third-placed Nottingham Forest.

Abdukodir Khusanov just keeps getting better

Despite the scoreline, there is always something positive to look at, and it goes without saying that Abdukodir Khusanov improves every time he gets on the pitch. Signed for £33.8 million from RC Lens in January, the centre-back is proving to be a great prospect for the present and future.

The Uzbek stopped everything that came in his direction – with five clearances, two blocks, a 93% passing success rate and 100% of tackles won to his name against Forest. Physically and technically, the 21-year-old is outstanding – a true warrior amongst an ageing squad on the field.

Glaring lack of midfield creativity

It is fair to say that City’s chances created against Forest were not the best and not aplenty. Haaland had only two opportunities of taking a shot – one created by Forest forward Chris Wood and the other misplaced by the Norwegian himself.

In the first 45 minutes, Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva did not appear in central positions, picking the ball only inside of the box or near the wings. City remained lacklustre in creativity after the interval until Foden was taken off and Silva moved to the right wing in the 69th minute.

Even with the changes, City looked poor in possession and couldn’t break down Forest’s low block – leading to a goalless performance from the Blues. The game depicted what this season’s struggled have stemmed from – inconsistency in possession.

Kevin De Bruyne needs to play

Even at 34, Kevin De Bruyne remains arguably Manchester City’s best player. Having played 25 minutes as a substitute, the Belgium international raised hopes of a good outcome when he came on. Even though his attempts were not as fruitful, he was still the most creative and comfortable player on the ball.

Physically, he may not be able to press high as well as he could a couple of years back, but the starting lineup should be built around him since he can find an opening out of nothing – and perhaps could have done so against tough opposition – had he been introduced earlier.

With De Bruyne’s contract expiring later this year, it is quite concerning to see a player of his level not playing as many minutes as he deserves – especially when form levels across the squad have dipped since autumn.

Big games, big trouble

Once again, City failed to turn up in a big match this season. The league table says it all – the club has won only five out of 15 games against (current) top-half teams so far – and this is not even mentioning the UEFA Champions League.

In this same scenario, the Cityzens have conceded 23 goals and a total of 38 times in 28 matches in the league. Defensively, the team doesn’t feel safe; there is always a leak to be exploited and although credit to teams City have come up against for finding these imperfections, this is a recurring problem that needs to be fixed.

Additionally, it feels like the team isn’t as incisive as they used to be offensively. There is much work to be done in all departments to secure a place in next season’s Champions League.

It’s simple, the better team won

The Garibaldis are having a wonderful season and testified that against the current Champions of England. Forest knew how to approach the game and didn’t abandon their plans. The visitors were outclassed by the work put in by the hosts, who wanted it more from the get-go.

If City have the highest possession on average this season in the Premier League, Forest have the lowest percentage. Their structure is well-built and suitable for the players they have, indeed carrying them this far in the league.

Besides, they were so solid defensively – especially Murillo at centre half. The Brazilian played won nearly all of all duels, clearing the ball 10 times and not getting dribbled past. After all, they punished City on the break counter and deservedly picked up all three points.