Manchester City were made to pay for an inefficient display in front of goal as substitute Chris Wood earned Nottingham Forest a deserved point at the City Ground on Saturday afternoon.
Bernardo Silva’s blockbuster effort from distance had Pep Guardiola’s side in front and heading back to the top of the Premier League table.
However, the visitors couldn’t extend their lead and were pegged back when Morgan Gibbs-White crossed for Chris Wood to convert at the back post to make it 1-1 late in the second half.
The visitors saw shots from Jack Grealish, Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne blocked, while Brennan Johnson showed his pace on the counter attack.
Forest defended well in the first half, limiting City to half-chances, though Rodri might have done better when found unmarked by De Bruyne, heading clear of the target.
Having sent a long shot whizzing past the post just minutes prior, Silva wound up again to break the deadlock, beating Keylor Navas with a sweetly struck strike from the edge of the box from Grealish’s pass.
City were straight in at the start of the second half as Gundogan sent Phil Foden scampering through on goal. However, the young forward appeared caught in two minds and messed up his pass to Erling Haaland before Felipe cleared the danger.
Aymeric Laporte was the next to go close for the visitors, timing his run perfectly but seeing his header held eventually by Navas.
Haaland had ended his three-game goalless streak against Arsenal in midweek but had little luck in front of goal at the City Ground, most notably having one effort crash back off the crossbar before smashing a rebound over.
Forest struggled to bare their attacking teeth throughout the second half, being forced to simply remain in the contest as City monopolised possession and pressed forward for chances.
However, Steve Cooper made positive substitutions and was rewarded with a fine equaliser. Gibbs-White and Johnson combined out wide before the former crossed low for Wood, who lost Kyle Walker and tapped in at the back post.
Guardiola made late changes to force a result but no more goals came, leaving City two points off Premier League leaders Arsenal while Forest moved up to 13th as their good recent form continues.
GK: Keylor Navas – 6/10 – An experienced and calm head in the first half as Forest held out until Silva’s strike.
RB: Serge Aurier – 8/10 – Showed some good aggression in tackles against the likes of Haaland and Grealish.
CB: Joe Worrall – 6/10 – Had a few iffy moments when City’s attacks clicked into gear and got booked.
CB: Felipe – 7/10 – The better of Forest’s centre-backs, doing well in the air and getting back to clear what appeared a certain goal when Foden broke.
LB: Renan Lodi – 7/10 – Aggressive like Aurier out wide. Bit careless with his distribution.
CM: Remo Freuler – 7/10 – Industrious but could rarely initiate any breaks against City’s more illustrious midfield.
CM: Jonjo Shelvey – 6/10 – Recovered the ball on occasion but spent a lot of time deep and chasing runners.
CM: Remo Freuler – 6/10 – Not too dissimilar to his midfield teammates.
RF: Morgan Gibbs-White – 7/10 – Not too many opportunities to show his skills but got everything right to set up Wood’s equaliser.
LF: Danilo – 5/10 – Didn’t have many scenarios to look dangerous in attack before being brought off.
ST: Brennan Johnson – 7/10 – Showed his pace but dragged his shots wide before moving wider and played a role in the equaliser.
Substitutes
Andre Ayew (58′ for Danilo) – 5/10
Neco Williams (58′ for Colback) – 5/10
Orel Mangala (72′ for Shelvey) – 6/10
Harry Toffolo (79′ for Lodi) – 6/10
Chris Wood (79′ for Aurier) – 7/10 – In the right place to tap in at the back post for his first Forest goal.
Manager
Steve Cooper – 8/10 – Forest defended well throughout and stayed in the contest long enough for Cooper to make changes and earn a point.
GK: Ederson – 5/10 – Not required for a raft of saves and beaten by Wood for the goal.
CB: Kyle Walker – 7/10 – Used his pace cheat code effectively and stepped up to win back possession frequently. Caught unaware by Wood at the back post.
CB: Ruben Dias – 6/10 – Mopped up loose possession often but was similarly disorganised for Forest’s strike.
CB: Aymeric Laporte – 6/10 – Showed nice quick feet and rarely misplaced a pass.
DM: Rodri – 7/10 – Missed a header from De Bruyne’s cross. Spread the play nicely but his teammates couldn’t be incisive enough.
DM: Bernardo Silva – 7/10 – Flipped between central midfield and left-back. Arrived on the edge of the box to crash in the opener. Influence waned later on.
RM: Phil Foden – 5/10 – Messed up a guaranteed goal on the break, which was rather costly in hindsight.
CM: Kevin De Bruyne – 6/10 – Never far away from the action but couldn’t quite open up Forest’s determined defence.
CM: Ilkay Gundogan – 6/10 – Went close with a free-kick but didn’t show his dynamism in the opposition box enough.
LM: Jack Grealish – 6/10 – Set up Silva’s strike but didn’t do enough one-v-one in wide areas for most of the game.
ST: Erling Haaland – 4/10 – An off colour afternoon, striking the woodwork and had a goal passed up by Foden.
Substitutes
Julian Alvarez (88′ for De Bruyne) – N/A
Nathan Ake (88′ for Foden) – N/A
Manager
Pep Guardiola – 4/10 – Kept things the same for too long and his changes from the bench appeared desperate. Can’t do much about his side missing chance after chance, mind.
Player of the match – Bernardo Silva (Manchester City)
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Credit: 90min.com
