Delap Double Stuns Man City as Forest Win 3-1

Nottingham Forest produced the shock of the Premier League season so far on Saturday, beating Manchester City 3-1 at the City Ground and handing City a third consecutive league defeat. Liam Delap scored twice against the club where he began his career, while Jair Cunha opened the scoring in the sixth minute, as Forest raced into a two-goal lead inside 20 minutes and never let it slip. Rayan Cherki briefly gave City hope early in the second half, but Delap's second goal in the 73rd minute sealed a famous win that lifted Forest out of the relegation zone and left City six points behind leaders Arsenal.

A dream start at the City Ground

The City Ground was rocking before many supporters had settled into their seats. In the sixth minute, Jair Cunha dispossessed Josko Gvardiol and beat goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to give Forest an early lead and their first home goal of the season. City, who had arrived in Nottingham after a midweek Champions League trip to Germany, looked rattled, and Forest smelled blood. Twelve minutes later it was 2-0. Another City giveaway let Delap drive 50 yards and blast past Donnarumma against the club where he started his career.

It was a start that few inside the stadium could have imagined. Forest had waited all season for a first home win, and they had scored their first home goals of the campaign in the opening 20 minutes against City. City had won their first seven league games of the season, but they were second to every ball in the first half, and manager Enzo Maresca did not hide his frustration afterwards. "In the first half, when you don't match the intensity, when you lose all the duels, it's difficult," Maresca told Sky Sports. "Second balls, we lost all of them, and then when we try to react, we were 2-0 down, and in football, it's always complicated."

City hit back — briefly

City improved after the break, as title contenders tend to do, and their pressure finally told in the 52nd minute. Rayan Cherki collected the ball and blasted a fierce shot beyond the Forest goalkeeper to cut the deficit in half and set up a tense final 40 minutes. For a spell, the game tilted entirely towards the Forest goal, with City pushing hard for an equaliser and the home crowd urging their side to hold firm. Forest defended in numbers, blocked shots and cleared crosses, and waited for their chance to strike on the counter-attack.

That chance arrived in the 73rd minute, and it was made by the player Forest look to whenever they need a moment of quality. Morgan Gibbs-White led a swift counter-attack, found Delap in space, and the striker did the rest, slamming his shot off the post and into the opposite side of the net past Donnarumma. Forest head coach Oliver Glasner sprinted down the touchline to celebrate, and the City Ground erupted. Delap had scored only once in his previous eight league games, but on this Saturday evening he produced two sensational strikes to carry his side to victory.

Delap delivers the decisive blow

"It's been coming, and we've been performing like that every week and not putting it in the net," Delap said after the match. "Today we showed we can put them in the net, so we're all happy. We did everything right, we got the three points and we're going to be happy going into the international break." Glasner was just as delighted, praising the energy of his players and the crowd. "It was a very good day to play Manchester City, but to be honest, today the energy in the team and at the City Ground was so incredible that it would have been tough for every team in the world to play against us today," he said.

What it means for the title race

The defeat leaves City with serious questions to answer during the international break. After reeling off seven straight wins to start the campaign under Maresca, they have now lost three in a row, beaten 2-1 away by Aston Villa before losing 1-0 at home to Brighton & Hove Albion and now falling at the City Ground. They also arrived in Nottingham fresh from a 3-2 Champions League win at RB Leipzig in midweek, but they have now gone nine matches in all competitions without keeping a clean sheet, and they gave the ball away cheaply for all three goals they conceded on Saturday.

Arsenal, who beat Hull City 1-0 earlier on Saturday through Martin Odegaard's 72nd-minute winner, now sit top of the standings on 27 points after 10 games, six clear of City. For Forest, the picture is transformed. The win moved them up to 16th place on nine points and out of the relegation zone, with their first home win of the season secured in style. If they can carry this intensity and finishing into the games after the international break, the early-season gloom on the banks of the River Trent may finally be lifting.