Forest 3-1 Man City: Delap double hands Maresca a third straight defeat

Manchester City have lost again. At the City Ground, the Premier League's second-bottom side beat Enzo Maresca's team 3-1, with two goals from City academy graduate Liam Delap. It is City's third straight league defeat. On 21 points they stay second, but Arsenal are now six points clear after ten rounds.

Two goals in 18 minutes leave City reeling

Forest had not scored at home in any competition this season. It took them six minutes to end that run. Brazilian defender Jair Cunha pressed Josko Gvardiol, won the ball, went past Marc Guehi and beat Gianluigi Donnarumma with a low shot. It was his first goal for Forest.

City had barely reacted before the second arrived. In the 18th minute they gave the ball away in the Forest half, Ruben Dias failed to deal with the danger and Liam Delap picked it up on the halfway line. The England forward ran through, left Dias and Guehi behind and fired past Donnarumma. According to Opta, City had not been two goals down so early in a Premier League match since November 2019, against Liverpool.

At half-time the numbers told the story of a strange game: around 75 per cent possession for City, yet Forest had more shots on target (four to three). Cunha had also cleared an Erling Haaland effort off the line.

Cherki gives hope, Delap ends it

Maresca reacted at the break by sending on Nico O'Reilly and Matheus Nunes. City pushed, and Rayan Cherki pulled one back in the 52nd minute with a volley into the top corner. For twenty minutes the visitors looked capable of a comeback.

Delap shut the door in the 73rd minute. He held the ball up with his back to goal, found Morgan Gibbs-White, took the return pass and shot from a tight angle. The ball struck the far post and went in. When he was substituted late on, the striker left to a standing ovation. A product of City's academy who later played for Chelsea, Delap joined Forest last summer, and this was the perfect revenge against his boyhood club.

Maresca under pressure

The contrast is brutal. Enzo Maresca began his City reign with seven wins from seven Premier League games. Since then his side have lost to Aston Villa (2-1), to Brighton at the Etihad (1-0) and now 3-1 at Forest. Before the game the Italian said his team had to "avoid silly goals." They conceded two more from lost possession.

The defensive numbers are worrying. City have now gone eight games without a clean sheet and have conceded twice as many league goals as Arsenal. The 3-2 win at RB Leipzig in the Champions League in midweek did not get the machine running again. On social media, some supporters are already questioning Maresca's future, even though the club has said nothing.