Manchester City drew 1-1 against Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Saturday 18 February.
Forest entered this contest with three losses, one win and one draw from their last five games in all competitions. They lost 2-0 to Fulham in their last league game after conceding both early and late in the game. However, Steve Cooper and his team were eager to move further out of the relegation zone.
City, on the other hand, have won four and lost one of their last five games in all competitions. They secured a massive 3-1 win over Arsenal to temporarily top them in the table. Pep Guardiola named a strong lineup for this game as he looked to put together a winning streak.
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π TEAM NEWS π XI | Ederson, Walker, Dias, Laporte, Bernardo, Rodrigo, De Bruyne, Gundogan (C), Foden, Grealish, Haaland SUBS | Ortega Moreno, Phillips, Ake, Γlvarez, GΓ³mez, Akanji, Mahrez, Palmer, Lewis#City man | @HaysWorldwide https://t.co/DmNINBJWkE
Manchester City dominated possession from the start as they looked to score early goals. They held 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 period alone, preventing Nottingham Forest from building momentum.
After long periods of pressure, Manchester City opened the scoring with a spectacular effort from Bernardo Silva. Jack Grealish did well to pause before moving past the Portuguese, who fired across with the outside of his left foot in a display of sheer technical genius. The visitors led 1-0 at halftime.
π― Manchester City ππ’ππππππ£ππ₯ Ederson completed more passes (12) than any Nottingham Forest player in the first half at the City Ground… https://t.co/HRjTysbyx2
Manchester City came out in the second half looking to seal the deal by extending their lead and defending it with determination. After their absolute dominance in the first period, possession was shared a bit more evenly, with Nottingham Forest keeping the ball for 38% of the time, while City had it for the remaining 62%.
The visitors attempted 14 shots, with only five of them on target. Both managers made multiple changes as they looked to upset the score for a late result. Morgan Gibbs-White then sent the crowd into ecstasy when he provided an assist for Chris Wood to score to make it 1-1 with less than four minutes remaining on the clock.
Nottingham Forest held on and secured an incredible 1-1 draw against Manchester City. Along those lines, let’s take a look at the game’s five talking points.
#5. Manchester City looked casual in front of the goal
With over 20 shots taken, City absolutely squandered the number of chances they created. They hit the target just six times of those 23 attempts despite also dominating possession. Bernardo Silva scored Manchester City’s only goal, an impressive effort from distance that required some striking. On top of that, they posed little to no threat.
#4. Nottingham Forest had their fans as the twelfth man
As both teams entered the pitch before kick-off, they were greeted by a loud chorus of red-shirted fans chanting and cheering Nottingham Forest. His passion from the stands was transmitted to his team, who gave their all and did not concede more than one goal.
Despite the momentary silence after Bernardo Silva’s goal, the home fans began to cheer their team once again towards the end as they showed great character to secure a point.
#3. Manchester City have lost ground against Arsenal
The Gunners rallied from 2-1 down at half time to secure a mammoth 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.
With an extra game in hand, Arsenal could be five points clear at the top if they secure victory in that one.
#2. The forest is likely to prevent the descent
With the board backing manager Steve Cooper and investing heavily to bring new staff to the club, it appears the team has enough resources to stay afloat. Following their spirited draw, Nottingham Forest have moved up to 13th in the table with 25 points from 23 games.
#1. Erling Haaland struggled to find his feet
Haaland had a bad game as he failed to hit the target despite two attempts. Despite playing the full 90 minutes, he only had 17 touches of the ball, of which he gave up possession five times.
He also won only one of his six duels and played just eight accurate passes throughout the game.
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