The match kicked off at 17:30 GMT in front of 30,762, with Forest in a 3-4-2-1 and City in a 4-2-3-1. Oliver Glasner's Forest started matchweek 10 in 19th place on six points, with one win from nine games; City were second on 21 points after seven wins and two defeats, and had lost their previous two league games, according to Sky Sports.
How the match was won
- 6' Nottingham Forest 1-0 Manchester City: Jair Cunha, a left-footed shot from the center of the box into the bottom left corner.
- 18' Nottingham Forest 2-0 Manchester City: Liam Delap, a right-footed shot from the center of the box into the top of the goal after a fast break, assisted by Xaver Schlager.
- 52' Nottingham Forest 2-1 Manchester City: Rayan Cherki, a left-footed shot from the center of the box into the top left corner.
- 73' Nottingham Forest 3-1 Manchester City: Liam Delap, a left-footed shot from the left side of the box into the top right corner after another fast break, assisted by Morgan Gibbs-White.
Cunha won the ball from Josko Gvardiol and ran through to score, Sky Sports reported. It was Forest's first home goal of the season, as NBC Sports noted, and it ended a run that Sky Sports put at eight and a half hours of football at the City Ground without a Forest goal. For the second, Schlager beat Elliot Anderson, who joined City from Forest, to the ball in midfield and sent Delap through. Delap, a product of City's academy according to NBC Sports, scored twice against his former club; the first was only his second goal for Forest, Sky Sports noted.
Maresca said after the game that City started the second half much better, and Cherki scored seven minutes after the restart. Delap's second goal, from a Gibbs-White pass on another break, restored the two-goal lead.
The second and the third goal that we conceded in transition, they are copy and paste.
Enzo Maresca, Manchester City manager, via Sky Sports
Turning points
Late in the first half Erling Haaland rounded Matz Sels, but Cunha blocked the shot on the goal line, according to Sky Sports and NBC Sports. Sky Sports also said Enzo Fernández should have headed in a cross from Marc Guéhi. Forest went in 2-0 up, and since 1995-96 Premier League teams two goals ahead at half-time have won 92 percent of the time, according to our study of half-time leads.
At half-time Maresca replaced Gvardiol and Guéhi with Nico O'Reilly and Matheus Nunes; both had come off with knocks rather than for tactical reasons, Maresca said, according to Sky Sports and NBC Sports.
Glasner made two changes in the 65th minute: Dan Ndoye replaced James McAtee, who had been booked a minute earlier for a foul on Anderson, and Luca Netz replaced Daniel Muñoz. Two minutes later a shot from Ryan Yates looped off Anderson onto the crossbar, Sky Sports reported, and Ndoye was booked in the 69th minute. City sent on Phil Foden for Enzo Fernández in the 78th minute, five minutes after Delap's second goal. Forest replaced Yates with Ibrahim Sangaré in the 79th and Delap with Igor Jesus in the 87th, and Netz and Igor Jesus were booked in stoppage time. All four yellow cards went to Forest; there were no red cards and no penalties.
Yates, Forest's captain, was making his first start of the season, and Glasner credited him with an inspiring team talk before kick-off, according to Sky Sports.
Nottingham Forest vs Man City: key stats
| Stat | Nottingham Forest | Manchester City |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 22% | 78% |
| Shots | 11 | 12 |
| Shots on target | 5 | 4 |
| Corners | 3 | 7 |
| Fouls | 13 | 7 |
| Yellow cards | 4 | 0 |
| Red cards | 0 | 0 |
| Offsides | 2 | 0 |
| Goalkeeper saves | 2 | 2 |
| Passes (completed) | 206 (138) | 753 (665) |
| Crosses | 12 | 23 |
| Interceptions | 11 | 1 |
| Clearances | 32 | 18 |
City had 78% of the ball and completed 665 of their 753 passes, 88%, against Forest's 138 of 206, 67%. The shot count was close, 12 to 11 in City's favor, but Forest had five on target to City's four and scored with three of them; each goalkeeper, Sels and Gianluigi Donnarumma, made two saves. City won seven corners to Forest's three and sent in 23 crosses to 12. Forest made 32 clearances to City's 18 and 11 interceptions to City's one, and committed 13 fouls to seven. Sky Sports cited statistics suggesting Forest ran six kilometers further than City.
What it means for the table
The win lifts Forest from 19th to 16th before Sunday's matches, on nine points from 10 games, and it was their first home win of the season, Sky Sports noted. Their three goals took their league total to nine, after six in the first nine games. They are level on points with 17th-placed Coventry City but ahead on goal difference, one point behind Fulham and two above Manchester United and Crystal Palace, who have seven points each and both play on Sunday: Manchester United at home to Aston Villa and Crystal Palace at home to Liverpool. Either would move above Forest with a win, and if both win, Forest drop back into the bottom three. Sunderland, bottom on five points, host Chelsea.
Over 31 Premier League seasons the 18th-placed team averaged 34.7 points, according to our look at how many points it takes to stay up. Forest have nine, with 28 games to play.
We have a saying in Austria. One swallow does not make a summer.
Oliver Glasner, Nottingham Forest manager, via Sky Sports
City remain second before Sunday's matches, on 21 points from 10 games, six behind Arsenal, who lead on 27 after also playing 10. Brighton & Hove Albion, third on 19 points with a game in hand, host Brentford on Sunday and would go above City with a win. City have now lost three league games in a row after winning their first seven, and Sky Sports noted that they are the first top-flight team in 122 years to do that. The full Premier League table updates after every game.
What's next: Forest at Bournemouth, City host Fulham
- Nottingham Forest: away at AFC Bournemouth, Saturday 21 November 2026, 15:00 GMT.
- Manchester City: at home to Fulham, Saturday 21 November 2026, 12:30 GMT.
Both games follow the international break, which Delap said Forest were happy to go into with a win, according to NBC Sports. The rest of that round is on our Premier League fixtures page, and our Premier League simulator lets you play out the rest of the season.
How this report was built: goals, assists, cards, substitutions, lineups, team stats and both tables come from ESPN's match data; the matchweek 10 table is computed from ESPN full-time results, three points for a win, and does not yet include the five games still to be played on Sunday 8 November. Context and quotes come from Sky Sports and NBC Sports.