On February 18, Manchester City drew with Nottingham Forest 1:1 in the English Premier League.
Forest come into this competition on the back of three defeats, one win and one draw in their last five games in various competitions. They went down 2-0 to Fulham in their last league game, conceding both early and late in the game. However, Steve Cooper and his team wanted to push further away from the relegation zone.
City, on the other hand, have won four and lost one of their last five matches in various competitions. They scored a big 3-1 win over Arsenal to temporarily go top of the table. Pep Guardiola named a strong line-up for the match as he looked to consolidate his winning streak.
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Manchester City dominated possession from the start as they looked to score early goals. They kept the ball for a staggering 84% of the first half, attempting nine shots on goal. They passed the ball around 397 times in the first half alone, preventing Nottingham Forest from gaining any momentum.
After prolonged pressure, Manchester City opened the scoring thanks to a spectacular effort from Bernardo Silva. Jack Grealish did well to intercept before passing to the Portuguese, who struck with the outside of his left foot at goal in a display of pure technical genius. At the break, the guests took a 1-0 lead.
😯 Manchester City 𝗚𝗢𝗔𝗟𝗘𝗘𝗣𝗣𝗘𝗥 Ederson made more passes (12) than any Nottingham Forest player in the first half at the City Ground… https://t.co/HRjTysbyx2
Manchester City came out for the second half looking to seal the deal, extending their lead and defending it with purpose. After their complete dominance in the first half, possession was shared slightly more evenly, with Nottingham Forest holding the ball 38% of the time and City having it the remaining 62%.
The guests made 14 shots, only five of which were on target. Both managers made several changes as they looked to turn the score around to grab a late result. Morgan Gibbs-White then sent the crowd into raptures as he assisted Chris Wood to make it 1-1 with less than four minutes remaining.
Nottingham Forest held on as they secured an incredible 1-1 draw against Manchester City. On that note, let’s take a look at the game’s five talking points.
#5. Manchester City looked casual in front of goal
With over 20 shot attempts, City were absolutely squandering the truckload of chances they created. They hit the target just six times from those 23 attempts, despite also having possession. Bernardo Silva scored the only goal for Manchester City with a stunning effort from distance that took some beating. Besides, they posed little danger.
#4. Nottingham Forest had their fans as the 12th man
As the two teams took to the pitch ahead of the game, they were greeted by a loud chorus of red-shirted fans singing and cheering for Nottingham Forest. Their passion was transmitted from the stands to their team as they dug deep and never conceded more than a goal.
Despite a moment of silence following Bernardo Silva’s goal, the home fans were once again cheering their team on until the end as they showed great character to secure a point.
#3. “Manchester City” lost to “Arsenal”.
The Gunners came back from 2-1 down at half-time to secure a 4-2 win over Aston Villa earlier in the day. They now have 54 points from 23 games, while Manchester City have 52 points from 24 games.
In extra time, Arsenal could potentially go five points clear at the top if they secure a win in that game.
#2. Forest are likely to avoid the drop
With the board backing manager Steve Cooper and investing heavily in bringing in new recruits to the club, it looks like the team has enough resources to stay. After an inspired draw, Nottingham Forest climbed to 13th in the table with 25 points from 23 games.
#1. Erling Haaland struggled to find his feet
Holland had a poor game as he failed to hit the target despite two attempts. Despite playing the entire 90 minutes, he had only 17 touches of the ball, of which he had five possessions.
He also won just one of his six tackles and made just eight accurate passes in the game.
Paul Merson predicts the result of Newcastle v Liverpool and other PL GW 24 matches. Click here