Man City beat Nottingham Forest for their sixth win in six Premier League games
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Manchester City's Erling Haaland scoring the second goal in their Premier League clash with Nottingham Forest.
Action Images via Reuters
LONDON – Manchester City extended their perfect start to the English Premier League season with a 2-0 victory over Nottingham Forest at the Etihad on Saturday, despite going down to 10 men.
Pep Guardiola’s men are aiming to retain their title and these six consecutive wins – only the second time City have started this well after 2016-17 – can only bode well for their campaign ahead.
They are also just the second reigning champions to achieve this feat following Chelsea in 2005-06.
With the win, City have now triumphed in their last 13 home Premier League matches, all in 2023.
Said goalscorer Phil Foden: “Delighted with the performance. I think the first half was brilliant apart from the last 10 (minutes), I think they found us out a little.
“The second half was not what we expected because Rodri got a red card quite early.
“It wasn’t ideal, but we showed a different side to us today to dig in and yeah I’m proud of the team.”
It did not take City long to get on the score sheet, as Rodri sent a long ball forward in the seventh minute to Kyle Walker, who then passed perfectly from inside the box to Foden to unleash a shot into the bottom-right corner.
According to Opta statistics, there were 46 passes leading up to the goal – the second-longest passing sequence after Nacer Chadli’s strike for Tottenham Hotspur against Queens Park Rangers in August 2014 (48).
City kept up the pressure on Forest and the second goal arrived in the 14th minute, with Erling Haaland heading into the net from a cleverly lofted pass from Matheus Nunes for his eighth league goal of the season.
Foden was again involved as it was his precise short pass in the build-up that found Nunes.
Thanks to the two quick-fire goals, City went into the break with a comfortable advantage, and were eager to continue the momentum after the interval.
However, Rodri was sent off for violent conduct only a minute into the second half for grabbing Morgan Gibbs-White on the neck after a tussle with the Forest midfielder.
A VAR (video assistant referee) review followed and referee Anthony Taylor decided the red card was valid in the end.
After the incident, it was more of preserving the lead, and Guardiola gradually took off attackers Jeremy Doku and Julian Alvarez for additional defensive cover.
Elsewhere, Luton Town claimed their first Premier League point when they held 10-man Wolverhampton Wanderers to a 1-1 draw at a rocking Kenilworth Road.
