Manchester City continued its race to win the 2023/24 English Premier League title with a clean win at Nottingham Forest.
Manchester City won 2-0 with Yosuko Gvardiol and Erling Haaland scoring in the away game against Nottingham Forest in the 34th round of the Premier League on the 29th (Korean time). Manchester City, second in the league, maintained its gap with the leader by one point after first-place Arsenal won 3-2 over Tottenham on this day.
Gvardiol scored the first goal in the first half, giving Manchester City the lead before halftime. Holland, who came on as a substitute after missing the last three games, added a goal with a sharp finish in the second half.
Manchester City defeated Nottingham Forest on this day, leaving only four games remaining in the Premier League this season. League leader Arsenal has currently played one more game than Manchester City. As for the goal difference between the two teams, Arsenal has the advantage by seven goals. The condition for Manchester City’s victory is to win the remaining games.
Match details
The biggest news ahead of this day’s game was Phil Foden’s absence. Foden boasted an absolute presence, scoring 16 goals in 31 Premier League games this season. However, he was absent that day due to poor physical condition. Manchester City defender Ruben Dias also did not play on this day.
Nottingham Forest faced Manchester City with a solid defensive formation, and when an opportunity to attack came, they quickly broke the formation and advanced, threatening Manchester City. Nottingham Forest had a decisive opportunity with Neko Williams 34 seconds after kickoff on this day, but failed to convert it into a shot.
Soon, Manchester City took control of the game and took the lead. In the 8th minute, Manchester City won the ball from Rodri’s Morgan Gibbs-White, and Jack Grealish passed it to De Bruyne, who came over on the left side. However, De Bruyne’s shot was blocked by opposing goalkeeper Mats Sells.
Jeremy Doku, who appeared as a substitute in the last game against Brighton, also started this day and showed active movement. Unfortunately, he failed to score in the 14th minute when his sharp left-footed shot missed the goal.
Ederson, who recently returned from injury, collided with opponent Willy Boli and complained of pain in his left shoulder. He was then replaced by Stefan Ortega at the end of the first half.
Man City scored the first goal in the 32nd minute. Defender Gvardiol scored his second goal in the Premier League this season with a header. With this, he has scored three goals in the last five games, including cup competitions.
Nottingham Forest also had a chance to counterattack, but failed to score and were unable to bring the game back to square one. Attacker Chris Wood opened up a decisive scoring opportunity in the 38th minute with a cutback from Gonzalo Montiel in front of the goal, but the shot missed and was unable to properly target Ederson.
Just before the end of the first half, when Ederson failed to catch Nottingham Forest’s corner kick, Murillo’s shot with his foot to push it into the goal grazed the goalpost.
Manchester City replaced goalkeeper Ederson with Ortega after the end of the first half. In addition, Kovacic was brought in at the start of the second half in place of Doku. However, Nottingham Forest, led by coach Nuno Espirito Santo, did not back down as Wood had another opportunity to score early in the second half.
However, the second half went in a similar fashion to the first half. Manchester City soon regained control, and Bernardo attempted to score in the 54th minute by attacking Gvardiol’s pass toward the goal, but his shot was cleared in front of the goal line by Aina.
Afterwards, Holland, who had missed the last three games due to injury, announced his return as a substitute. He made his return, coming on as a substitute for Jack Grealish in the 62nd minute.
Nottingham Forest had another opportunity to score in the 66th minute when Wood received a pass from Anthony Elanga. However, Wood was unable to attempt a threatening shot due to being checked by Manchester City defender Manuel Akanji.
In the end, Man City scored an additional goal to open the game up by two goals. Haaland ran toward the goal, received De Bruyne’s pass, and scored his 21st Premier League goal this season.
Manchester City, who took a two-goal lead, played the game stably. Nottingham Forest, who are currently competing for survival to avoid relegation, were no longer able to take risks and threaten Manchester City. Afterwards, Callum Hudson-Odoi’s attempted shot was blocked by Ortega.
In the end, Man City finished the game 2-0 and took three points.
roster
Nottingham Forest: Sels, Williams (35′ Montiel), Boli, Murillo (74′ Omovamidele), Niakate, Aina, Danilo (74′ Yates), Gibbswhite (C), Elanga (74′ Reina), Hudson. Odoi, Wood
Subs: Turner, Sangare, Topolo, Origi, Omovamidele, Ribeiro
Man City: Ederson (46′ Ortega), Walker (C), Akanji, Ake, Gvardiol, Rodri, Bernardo, De Bruyne (89′ Nunes), Doku (46′ Kovacic), Grealish (62′) Haaland), Alvarez (89′ Bob)
Standbys: Carson, Stones, Gomes, Lewis
Pep, 300 Premier League games
Guardiola played his 300th Premier League game as manager of Manchester City. He has won the Premier League five times since taking office as Manchester City manager in 2016. This season, Manchester City is aiming for its sixth title under coach Guardiola.
Currently, in the 300 games coach Guardiola has played in the Premier League, Manchester City’s record is 221 wins, 41 draws, and 38 losses. No team has won more games than Manchester City in the Premier League during that period. The teams with the most wins after Manchester City are Liverpool (194 wins) and Arsenal (168 wins). Tottenham (164 wins), Chelsea, and Manchester United (156 wins) follow suit.
Coach Guardiola’s win rate during that period was 73.6%. This is the highest winning percentage of any manager in Premier League history. Next is manager Alex Ferguson at 65.2%, manager Antonio Conte at 62.9%, manager Jurgen Klopp at 62.7%, and manager Roberto Mancini at 61.7%.
Pep Guardiola’s reaction
“Now there are four games left. “It feels like climbing a mountain.”
“There are really difficult games left. “We have to take it one game at a time.”
“If we draw even one game, we can’t win the Premier League. “This is reality.”
“We continued our competition for the championship by winning a difficult game today. “Now we need to get some rest and prepare for the next game.”
Gvardiol reaction
“It was a really difficult game. A struggle was expected from the beginning of the game. I felt that way especially after seeing that the playground grass was really dry. But we go back with three points.”
“I didn’t expect to score a goal today, but I scored a good goal in a good position. Now we need to focus on ourselves and no one else. That’s what we’re doing. We have four games left in the final. “We have to do it.”
Man of the Match
Gvardiol is showing off his increasingly advanced skills. As a centre-back, he is contributing significantly to Manchester City not only defensively but also offensively. Gvardiol scored in the first half of the day and has a total of three goals this season, including cup competitions.
meaning of victory
Manchester City maintained its second place in the Premier League with a win over Nottingham, maintaining the gap with leader Arsenal by one point. Currently, Man City has played one less game than Arsenal. Manchester City faces Wolverhampton (home), Fulham, Tottenham (away), and West Ham (home) in the remaining four games.
With three games remaining, Arsenal meets Bournemouth (home), Manchester United (away), and Everton (home).
next game
Manchester City’s next opponent is Wolverhampton, which has recently been on the rise with Hwang Hee-chan restarting his scoring lineup. Manchester City will play Wolverhampton in the 35th round of the Premier League at the Etihad Stadium at 1:30 am on the 5th of next month.
