Manchester City’s defensive mistakes turned a difficult afternoon into a third straight league defeat. Nottingham Forest struck twice in the opening 18 minutes and won 3-1 at the City Ground, with Liam Delap scoring twice against his former club. Rayan Cherki’s second-half volley offered City a brief foothold, but Forest restored their two-goal cushion before the final stretch.

Forest’s opener came after Josko Gvardiol was dispossessed by Jair Cunha, who then scored in the sixth minute. City’s second costly turnover came when Elliot Anderson lost a challenge to Xaver Schlager. Delap collected the ball near halfway, drove forward and finished to make it 2-0 in the 18th minute.

Cherki cut the deficit with a half-volley in the 52nd minute. A goal-line clearance denied Erling Haaland from a tight angle, and Enzo Fernandez later headed over from close range. Forest made City pay again on 73 minutes: Morgan Gibbs-White led the break, and Delap finished for his second of the match.

The result leaves City second, six points behind Arsenal. Forest are 16th, two points clear of the relegation zone, and have their first home league win of the season.

Manchester City ratings

Player Rating Reason
Rayan Cherki 7 Scored City’s only goal with a 52nd-minute half-volley; the team’s best performer.
Nico O’Reilly (on 45) 6 Replaced Gvardiol at the break and brought more stability to the left side.
Phil Foden (on 76) 6 Entered for Fernandez with the outcome largely settled.
Erling Haaland 5 Had a close-angle effort cleared off the line but didn’t find the net.
Jeremy Doku 5 Daniel Munoz kept him quiet throughout.
Iliman Ndiaye 5 A missed interception helped set up Forest’s second.
Enzo Fernandez 5 Sent a close-range header over when City needed a response.
Matheus Nunes (on 45) 4 Didn’t close Delap down before the striker completed his brace.
Abdukodir Khusanov 4 Looked uncomfortable at right-back before moving inside.
Marc Guehi 4 Struggled in a disorganized defence and was withdrawn at half-time.
Josko Gvardiol 4 Lost possession to Cunha for the opener and came off at the break.
Elliot Anderson 4 Lost the duel with Schlager that launched Forest’s second goal.
Ruben Dias 4 His attempted challenge arrived too late to stop Delap’s third.
Gianluigi Donnarumma 3 His positioning and reactions were questionable on the first two goals, and he looked shaky in the air.

Cherki was the one City player to leave with much credit, while Donnarumma received the lowest rating. The goalkeeper couldn’t prevent either early goal, and the first-half collapse again exposed a defence struggling to protect him.

City have conceded eight first-half goals in 10 league matches, and four of their errors this season have led directly to goals. Half-time substitutions for Gvardiol and Guehi underlined the scale of the problem. O’Reilly’s steadier display gives him a case to keep the left-back role.

Nottingham Forest ratings

Player Rating Reason
Liam Delap 9 Scored twice against his former club, including his first goals at the City Ground.
Jair Cunha 8 Opened the scoring and cleared a City effort off the line.
Morgan Gibbs-White 7 Created the opening for Forest’s third goal.
Xaver Schlager 7 Won the midfield challenge that led to Delap’s first goal.
Daniel Munoz 7 Kept Doku from influencing the game.
Ryan Yates 6 A poor clearance gave Cherki the chance to score.

Delap’s two finishes marked a sharp change from his first eight appearances for Forest, when he had scored once. He ran directly at City’s defence and made both chances count. Cunha also made a major contribution at each end, punishing Gvardiol’s error before producing a goal-line clearance.

City’s next league match is at home to Fulham on Saturday 21 November at 12:30 UK time. Read our Forest v Man City prediction and team news for the build-up.

Featured photo: Jacek Stanislawek, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped).

Arjun Rao is a football writer covering the Premier League for The False 9 — tactical breakdowns, transfer analysis and the numbers behind the game.