MAN CITY 3, NOTTM FOREST 0
Manchester City’s seven match winless run is finally over after a Kevin De Bruyne inspired victory against Nottingham Forest.
City’s upturn in fortunes coincided with the return of the brilliant Belgium who was making his first start since September 14.
De Bruyne was the heartbeat and a pivotal figure in the much-needed victory – he provided the assist for Bernardo Silva’s opener and scored the second.
He was also involved in other key attacking moves and was rightly rewarded by being named man of the match.
Jeremy Doku also capped a fine performance with City’s third as they regained some of the swagger they had lost as they recorded a first win in 39 days as they reclaimed a place in the top four.
City manager Pep Guardiola, who switched Jack Grealish from wide to the central midfield role he excelled at while playing for Aston Villa, saw him also make a key contribution to the victory.
It was not perfect as City were still suspect defensively and, had Forest taken some of their chances at key moments, it might have been a different story.
And the shine was also taken off the win by injuries sustained by Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji which will stretch an already weakened squad – Ake looks to have a serious hamstring issue.
Guardiola was delighted to end the barren run but admitted the performance was not much different to the recent matches they had been losing.
“We needed it,” he said. “The club and the players, everyone needed to win. But it is just one win.
“There are still things missing we have to work at. The most important thing is to have finally won.”
He saluted the displays of De Bruyne and Grealish.
Guardiola said: “I am so happy for him as last season and this he has been injured a lot.
“Against Feyenoord he was good when he came on, and today he played 75 fantastic minutes.
“Jack has been involved in many games as a holding midfield player earlier in his career.
“He provided what we needed building in midfield with his quality and control of the game, and I am really happy for him.”
Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santa said: “When you lost 3-0 it is hard to say it was not a bad performance. There were a lot of positive things and also a lot of bad things.
“We knew the difficulties we would face, but we had chances.
“I think we can come away proud of ourselves as we went for it and tried.
“We challenged ourselves and this game will allow us to grow. Hopefully it will be reflected in our next games.”
Embed from Getty ImagesDe Bruyne was one of four changes to the City line-up from Sunday’s defeat at Liverpool.
The Belgian took over as captain as he starts for the first time since 18 September.
Josko Gvardiol, Grealish and Doku are also included. Phil Foden was not in the squad as he was suffering from bronchitis while Kyle Walker, Matheus Nunes and Rico Lewis were on the bench.
Anthony Elanga returns to the Forest side along with Nicolas Dominguez and Alex Moreno as Nuno Espirito Santo made three changes.
Callum Hudson-Odoi, Neco Williams and Elliot Anderson dropped to the bench. Forest were looking for their first away win against City since 1989.
City made a positive start and came close to snatching a sixth minute when Erling Haaland latched on to De Bruyne’s cross and forced a smart save from keeper Matz Sels.
And De Bruyne provided the assist for Bernardo’s goal which broke the deadlock two minutes later.
He headed Ilkay Gundogan’s cross back across the face of goal for Bernardo to slot home from inside the six-yard box for only his second goal of the season and first since the Community Shield in August.
City ought to have doubled their advantage inside quarter of an hour when Gvardiol’s free far-post header from Bernardo’s cross flashed narrowly wide when he ought to have hit the target.
Forest came close to equalising moments later when Jota Silva cut the ball back from the right for Wood whose shot from the edge of the box brought a flying save from keeper Stefan Ortega who was again preferred to Ederson in goal.
Gvardiol burst clean through but pulled his shot wide while De Bruyne fired narrowly wide as City were playing with the swagger of old.
Wood, the Premier League’s third highest scorer, ought to have netted his 10th of the season when he burst clean through only to fire wide.
It showed how costly that miss was when City doubled their advantage moments later in the 31st minute.
Doku danced his way in from the left and set up De Bruyne who fired home from 16 yards high past Sels.
City made a change at the break as Walker replaced Manuel Akanji. And Walker was quickly involved as he blocked Alex Moreno’s goalbound shot inside the six-yard box.
Doku made the game safe when he scored City’s third in the 57th minute, a terrific solo effort.
Haaland released Doku yards inside the Forest half and he surged down the left and cut inside before bending a shot low into the far corner for his third goal of the season.
De Bruyne was at the heart of most of City’s attacking moves and he brought a fabulous stop from Sels low to his left.
City’s second change with 16 minutes left saw De Bruyne replaced by Lewis.
And in the last minute there was a triple change as the injured Ake, Grealish and Doku were replaced by James McAtee, Nunes and Savinho.