Callum Hudson-Odoi’s late strike gave Nottingham Forest a brilliant 1-0 win over Manchester City as Pep Guardiola’s side suffered a blow to their hopes of Champions League qualification.
It appeared a game which pitted third against fourth at the City Ground was heading for a stalemate before Hudson-Odoi controlled a beautiful cross-field pass from Morgan Gibbs-White, cut inside and beat Ederson at his near post in the 83rd minute.
The goal sealed a momentous win for Forest, allowing them to open up a four-point gap on struggling City, who could now fall below Chelsea, into fifth, if the Blues win at home to Leicester on Sunday.
Manchester City dominated possession but struggled to carve out clear chances, going closest when Nico Gonzalez struck Matz Sels’ right-hand post with a stinging drive in the first half, soon after Erling Haaland had fired narrowly wide.
Erling Haaland rues a missed chance against Nottingham Forest
That early Haaland effort proved one of only two shots from him over the course of an afternoon in which Forest again defended doggedly, as in their goalless draw at home to second-placed Arsenal last time out. Their total of 12 clean sheets this season is second only to leaders Liverpool.
The hosts grew in belief as Manchester City continued to labour in front of goal in the second half, despite sending on Kevin de Bruyne and Omar Marmoush, and almost broke the deadlock earlier.
Hudson-Odoi was the protagonist on that occasion too, but his curling shot was brilliantly pushed onto the upright by a full-stretch Ederson, only for the goalkeeper’s lapse at his near post to allow the same player to score the decisive goal soon afterwards.
As Forest celebrate another memorable victory, which significantly boosts their own hopes of Champions League qualification, City are left facing a major fight to qualify themselves, with Newcastle, Bournemouth, Brighton, Fulham and Aston Villa close behind them as well as Chelsea.
Blunt City put CL hopes in jeopardy
Nottingham Forest deserve huge credit for their defensive display. Manchester City are not the first side to struggle to break them down this season. But the listlessness of their attack will worry Guardiola nonetheless.
Gonzalez hit the post from long range but the visitors’ 14 shots in total were worth a mere 0.85 expected goals, a figure which underlines how they struggled to create high-quality openings.
Their defensive issues have been the focus of their poor season but all is not well in the attacking third either. This was the seventh Premier League game this season in which they have mustered under 1.0 expected goals. That is something which only happened five times across the whole of the last campaign.
Guardiola said failing to qualify for the Champions League would not be the end of the world in his pre-match press conference. His side’s issues, in attack as well as defence, suggest it is a reality he may yet have to confront.
