Chris Wood’s late strike gave Nottingham Forest a point at the City Ground, denying Manchester City the chance to reclaim the top spot in the Premier League.
After Bernardo Silva’s thunderbolt from 20 yards put the visitors ahead, they squandered numerous opportunities to end the game.
Aymeric Laporte’s header was well stopped by Forest goalkeeper Keylor Navas, but Erling Haaland volleyed against the crossbar and blasted the rebound over the top.
In the 84th minute, Wood scored his first goal for Forest by tapping in a fizzed cross from Morgan Gibbs-White at the far post.
The result handed a setback to City’s title chances after Arsenal regained the lead with a 4-2 comeback victory against Aston Villa earlier on Saturday. Forest’s unbeaten home run now stands at eight games.
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City regrets lost chances
The lowest proportion of any Guardiola team in the top tier, City had just 37% of the ball against Arsenal in midweek. On Saturday, City regained some sort of normalcy with a commanding 84% of the first half.
Phil Foden was a standout for City, starting his first game after missing several games due to a foot injury. He drove forward and caused trouble for a thin Forest defense.
When Silva was given the ball on the outskirts of the area, he fired an incredible left-footed drive into the top of the net after sending a solid effort from distance whistling over the bar.
The goal came as a reward for the visitors’ continued pressure, and they had plenty of chances to stop the nervous finish when Ilkay Gundogan narrowly misjudged Kyle Walker’s cross and Foden’s off-balance pass didn’t quite reach Haaland for a tap-in.
But, despite their domination, City was forced to regret their squandered opportunities and was forced to make desperate last-ditch efforts as they searched for a late winner.
Despite making seven tries to score, Kevin de Bruyne was unsuccessful, as City were unable to build on their Wednesday victory over title contender Arsenal.
They have already lost 15 of their total away points this year, up from 11 in all of last year.
The forest takes a chance.
After spending the entirety of the first half in their own half, Forest will have thought it was a blessing to only be behind by one goal at the break.
They had won four of their previous seven home games and had briefly displayed threat on the counterattack as City pushed players forward.
Brennan Johnson and Gibbs-White each had opportunities to get away. Johnson was stopped by Walker’s block and then rushed forward once again, but no one was there to catch his squared ball.
Because to the injuries sustained by Scott McKenna and Willy Boly at center defense the previous game, Steve Cooper’s team failed to generate any significant periods of possession or opportunities.
Yet, as City grew impatient, Forest remained persistent and ultimately effective enough to seize the moment when it finally presented itself, resulting in their lone successful shot of the afternoon.
