Liam Delap had scored once in his first eight appearances for Nottingham Forest. On Saturday night, in fog at the City Ground, he scored twice against the club that let him go as a teenager and took Manchester City apart in the process. Forest won 3-1, their first home league win of the season, and City have now lost three league games in a row.
Both of Forest's first-half goals came from City errors that were close to self-inflicted. Josko Gvardiol took a heavy touch and was bundled off the ball by Jair Cunha, who carried it to the edge of the box and stroked a low finish into the corner. Then Xaver Schlager won a 50/50 against a hesitant Elliot Anderson and released Delap, who ran unchallenged from the halfway line before beating Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Cherki gave City hope, Delap removed it
City had chances in a scrappy first half. Erling Haaland's shot from a narrow angle was cleared off the line, and Enzo Fernandez headed a good opportunity off target. Early in the second half Rayan Cherki met a clearance with a half-volley that was the best strike of the night up to that point, and for twenty minutes City camped in the Forest half.
Then Morgan Gibbs-White led a breakaway, Delap arrived on the end of it, and curled a shot high into the far corner. Oliver Glasner sprinted down the touchline to celebrate with his players. He had already danced on the spot when Delap scored the second, arms up, entirely unbothered about how it looked.
Delap finds his level at a third club
Delap spent a decade in City's academy before leaving for Ipswich in 2019. His scoring there earned a move to Chelsea, where it did not work, and his first weeks at Forest had been quiet. These were his first goals at the City Ground. He played the whole night running directly at City's centre-backs, and they never found an answer.
Forest have looked organised under Glasner without turning performances into points. Two above the relegation zone in 16th, they now have a result to build from, and the Austrian clearly believes it is the moment that changes the season.
Maresca's defence keeps giving goals away
City have conceded eight first-half goals in ten league games; only Crystal Palace, with 11, and Ipswich, with nine, have let in more before the interval. They have also committed four errors leading to goals, a figure bettered for the worse only by Sunderland and Hull City. Donnarumma's positioning for the first two goals will be picked over, though he had no chance with the third.
The defeat left City six points behind Arsenal, who had beaten Hull 1-0 earlier in the day, and it also tipped Manchester United into the relegation zone. Enzo Maresca said afterwards there was no panic. There is plenty to fix.
Match facts: Nottingham Forest 3-1 Manchester City, City Ground, Saturday 7 November. Forest: Cunha, Delap (two). City: Cherki. Forest's first home league win of the season lifts them to 16th, two points clear of the drop zone; City stay second, six points behind Arsenal, after a third successive league defeat.
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