Man City 2 Nottingham Forest 2
What a disastrous night for Man City. I’m probably not the only one that thought it was a given that City would beat Forest tonight and they got off to a pretty slow start until the 34th minute were Cherki’s cross found the man in form Antoine Semenyo who volleyed home to put City 1-0 up with the only goal of the first half. City were trying to find that second goal in the second half but were stunned as Forest equalised after Aina’s cross found Igor Jesus at the back post who headed the ball back to Morgan Gibbs-White who’s audacious backheel wrong footed Donnarumma to bring Forest level in the 56th minute. It didn’t take long for City to go back in front as Ait-Nouri’s corner found Rodri who’s header just got past a pack of Forest defenders to put City back in front in the 62nd minute. City were pushing for that third goal but were pulled back yet again as a quick one-two between Elliot Anderson and Hudson-Odoi saw Anderson fire a magnificent curler past Donnarumma to bring the teams level yet again in the 76th minute. The drama wasn’t finished however as City piled the pressure on in the closing stages only to have the ball cleared off the line as Savinho thought he scored the winner in the 10th minute of added time by Murillo, Forest held on for a point as City dropped crucial points in the title race.
Lack of cutting edge cost City on the day. Don’t get me wrong Forest scored two absolutely brilliant goals with the second from Anderson probably securing his move to the Etihad in the summer but we’ll talk about that later as City just couldn’t get that cushion in front when they went a goal to the good. Milenkovic and Murillo had Haaland locked up the whole night limiting him to only 14 touches the whole 90 minutes plus 10 added on at the end, that’s when you look at guys like Phil Foden who have been here before to give City that bit of magic that we’ve seen multiple times throughout his career but he was anonymous tonight as Cherki was Cities best player yet again. This City team just doesn’t have the same quality as teams in the past letting leads slip over and over again whilst lacking that cutting edge when they really need that goal, it’s Arsenal’s title to lose now as City have seven points to make up in 9 games.
A massive point for Forest in their bid for survival. Last week I thought Forest were really unlucky not to take at least a point from the game against Liverpool after playing really well and they showed huge character and resilience to come back twice when City were in the lead, last season we saw just how strong Forest could be defensively and we saw that tonight as Murillo and Milenkovic were magnificent at the back giving Haaland nothing all night to sniff at. This result leaves Forest still in 17th but with West Ham winning they are only a point clear of the relegation places along with Spurs in 16th who have a huge game against Crystal Palace tomorrow, Forest just simply have too much quality to go down in my opinion but they’ll have to rack up a few wins to secure their spot in the league over the next month or so to stay up.
A successful audition for Elliot Anderson at the Etihad. The links are only going to get stronger after Elliot Anderson produced a world-class goal which earned Forest a point tonight against the club he’s been linked to join in the summer. He’s been by far Forest’s best player this season and no doubt will be starting for England in the summer at the World Cup alongside Declan Rice, the attribute that I like the most about him is that he’s always looking to pass forward even when theirs better options sideways or backwards and the goal tonight was a perfect showcase of this one-toing the ball around Phil Foden then finishing brilliantly past one of the best goalkeepers in the world. I would absolutely love him at United next season but all the talk is around him going to City next season and that’ll only increase after a man of the match performance tonight, it’ll not be cheap though as Forest will probably want in and around that £100 million mark I’d hazard a guess, we’ll see in the summer I suppose.
A big boost to Arsenal’s title hopes. With Arsenal winning a diabolical match at the AMEX tonight they move seven points clear of City who do have a game in hand but now don’t have the title in their hands with only 9 games to go until the end of the season. Although Arsenal aren’t playing that well they’re picking up wins which is all they care about right now in their goal to win their first Premier League since 2004, City only have themselves to blame after blowing the lead twice and face Newcastle in the FA Cup next on Saturday before a Champions League tie against Real Madrid next week, then they face West Ham at the London Stadium who just picked up a massive win against Fulham at Craven Cottage tonight so that will be far from an easy game next weekend. Arsenal face Everton at the Emirates as they seek to maintain that gap over City as well as facing Leverkusen in the Champions League next week. A crazy night of Premier League action as Cities hope of reclaiming the title takes a hit to Nottingham Forest.