Manchester City were held to a 1-1 draw at the City Ground as substitute Chris Wood scored a late equaliser for the Nottingham Forest. The champions went top of the table in the week after beating title rivals Arsenal 3-1 at the Emirates Stadium. But after the draw they drop back down to second and Arsenal go back to the top after winning an entertaining game at Villa Park where they beat Aston Villa 4-2. The result at the City Ground has put Forest back up to 13th, they could drop down to 14th if Leicester avoid defeat at Manchester United. The East Midlands side now sit five points clear of the relegation zone.
Steve Cooper made five changes to his side that were defeated 2-0 at Fulham a week ago. The Welshman set up Forest in a defensive way as three central midfielders came in alongside Remo Freuler. Jonjo Shelvey made his first start since arriving from Newcastle United. He was joined by Danilo and Jack Colback as the Reds started with a four man midfield. Scott Mckenna and Willy Boly missed out through injury and in came Felipe and Joe Worrall into the back four. Pep Guardiola made two changes from the win at Arsenal. Nathan Ake and Riyad Mahrez came out the side for Aymeric Laporte and Phil Foden,
In a game that saw the visitors have 73% possession off the ball, it was them who had their first of many chances. Forest were able to clear a City corner but it fell to Kevin De Bruyne on the edge of the box. His powerful volley went just wide of the of goal. The midfielder from Belgium had scored four league goals before this game and was looking to add to his tally.
The midfielder was then involved in another chance. After some patient play fro City, De Bruyne sent a ball into the box that was met by Rodri and his header went just wide. The away side were causing problems for Forest and were seeing so much of the ball but they just could not find that opening goal.
Just ten minutes later the side from Manchester did find the opening goal. After a corner was cleared, City regained the ball and Grealish passed in centrally from the right. His pass was then struck first time on the edge of the box by Bernardo Silva and it flew past Keylor Navas into the back of the net. It was a third goal of the season for the Portuguese midfielder and it would of given a sent of relief for City faithful as they finally found a way through.
That was it for the first half and the champions were ahead. Not a pretty half for the Forest fans but they were happy that they were keeping City out and were still in the game. The Reds could just not get on the ball and could not get forward. Guardiola's men had plenty of the ball but could not create many clear cut chances. Despite this they were ahead at the interval which was the most important part.
Early in the second half the visitors had a golden chance. Ilkay Gundogan played a ball past Worall and Foden was through on goal. The forward was caught in two minds whether to shoot or put it across to the league top scorer Erling Haaland. He tried to play it across in the end but defender Felipe managed to get there and clear the ball.
Another chance fell for the Champions. This time a corner from De Bruyne was met by defender Laporte as he charged his way into the box. His free header was brilliantly saved by Navas as he managed to keep the score down. City could just not find a way to hit the back of the net and were growing more and more frustrated.
The home side did then finally have a chance of their own. Brennan Johnson got down the right hand side and cut his pass back to Morgan Gibbs-White. His first time shot went well over the bar and did not threaten the goal. It was encouraging signs from Forest as they finally got forward and had a chance.
26 goal man Haaland then had an head in hands moment. With 20 minutes to go, Foden shot from range was pushed away only as far as the Norwegian who hit the bar from close range. It then fell right back to him and it looked like he would seal a seventh away league win for the away side but his shot went over the bar from just a couple of yards out. The concession of chances summed up the afternoon in front of goal for the multi million pound squad.
With just over 15 minutes to go, Gundogan was next to miss a chance. A free kick on the edge of the box from the German was brilliantly tipped over by Navas. The on loan PSG keeper proving to be a brilliant purchase for Forest.
Them missed chances would prove to be vital as Forest equalised just 6 minutes from time. After Johnson got down the right he found Gibbs-White who put a ball low across the City box and was tapped home at the back post by substitute Wood. It was a first Forest goal for the New Zealand forward, who's deal was made permanent this week, and it proved to be a big goal for Forest. The move for the goal involved every Forest player touch the ball and without losing it in the process.
That goal proved to be the last action of the game as Manchester City dropped an important two points in the title race. A frustrating afternoon for the champions which they will look to bounce back from. The result for Forest stretches their home unbeaten to record in the league to eight games and you would of thought they had won the game as the City Ground was bouncing. Up next for Reds is a trip to West Ham United. If they win that they will be in a very good position going into the final 14 games. For the Blues, they turn their attention to the Champions League as they travel to Germany to face RB Leipzig for the first leg of the round of 16.
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