Forest Beat Man City 3-1 as Delap Scores Twice in Shock Win

Nottingham Forest beat Manchester City 3-1 at the City Ground on Saturday, scoring twice inside the first 18 minutes and holding on for the result of the Premier League weekend so far. Jair Cunha put Forest ahead in the 6th minute and Liam Delap doubled the lead in the 18th. Rayan Cherki pulled one back for City in the 52nd minute, but Delap scored his second in the 73rd to settle the match.

Forest began the day in 19th place and had not scored a home league goal in 512 minutes, a run that stretched back to the final game of last season. The wait ended early. Cunha, a Brazilian centre half, took the ball off Josko Gvardiol and beat Gianluigi Donnarumma for the opening goal. Twelve minutes later Delap, playing against the club where he came through the academy, drove forward from deep in his own half and blasted his shot past Donnarumma for 2-0.

The start had a place in City's record books for the wrong reasons. Delap's 18th minute goal made this the earliest City have trailed by two goals in a Premier League match since November 2019, when Liverpool were 2-0 up in 13 minutes, according to Opta figures reported during the match. Cunha also blocked a close range effort from Erling Haaland before half time to keep the two goal lead intact.

City improved after the break. Cherki hit a half volley past Matz Sels in the 52nd minute to make it 2-1, and for a spell Forest were pinned back. The third goal broke that pressure. Forest went from back to front in seconds, Morgan Gibbs-White carried the break and chose Delap, who smashed the ball past Donnarumma and in off the post in the 73rd minute.

Why it matters

The defeat is City's third in a row in the league, after a 2-1 loss at Aston Villa and a 1-0 loss at Brighton. City stay second on 21 points, but Arsenal's 1-0 win over Hull City earlier on Saturday moved the leaders to 27 points, six clear. City had also travelled in midweek, winning 3-2 at RB Leipzig in the Champions League, and they looked short of energy in the first half at the City Ground.

For Forest, the win lifts them out of the bottom places they started the day in and pushes Manchester United into the relegation zone. It also gives the City Ground a result to match the noise inside it. Forest defended their box in numbers in the last 20 minutes and saw out the closing stages without a serious scare.

What happens next

City need a response fast. Three straight league defeats have turned a title race into a chase, and the gap to Arsenal is now two full results. Forest, meanwhile, have proof that their low block and pace on the break can hurt the biggest teams in the league. The same plan will be tested again in the weeks ahead, but Saturday's points change the mood at the bottom of the table as much as the top.