Liam Delap’s Double Stuns Manchester City as Nottingham Forest Win 3-1 and Hand Champions Third Straight Defeat

Liam Delap scored twice against the club that raised him as Nottingham Forest stunned Manchester City 3-1 at the City Ground on Saturday, handing the champions a third consecutive Premier League defeat and dragging the title race wide open. Jair Cunha had given Forest a sixth-minute lead before Delap, a former City academy striker, struck in each half, and although Rayan Cherki pulled one back early in the second half, Delap’s 73rd-minute finish sealed a famous win for the home side.

The result, confirmed by Opta’s match data and the Press Association’s match report, lifts Forest out of the relegation zone to 16th place and leaves City six points behind leaders Arsenal heading into the international break. It was Forest’s first home league win since April and their first home goals of the season, ending a drought that had stretched back to last May.

City, by contrast, have now lost three league matches in a row after winning their first seven. According to Opta, they are only the second team in English top-flight history to open a season with seven straight wins and then lose the next three, after Sheffield Wednesday in 1904-05.

Forest strike twice inside 18 minutes

Forest flew out of the blocks in a way nobody at the City Ground had dared to expect. In the sixth minute, centre-back Jair Cunha stepped up to dispossess Josko Gvardiol high up the pitch, strode into the penalty area and calmly slotted past Gianluigi Donnarumma. It was the Brazilian’s first goal for Forest, and it ended a home goalless run that had lasted the best part of eight and a half hours.

Twelve minutes later it was 2-0, and this time the damage was done by the man City once hoped would lead their attack for a decade. Xaver Schlager flicked the ball away from Elliot Anderson in midfield, and Delap still had a long way to go when he collected it inside his own half. With Marc Guehi unable to get tight enough, the striker drove forward and lashed an unstoppable finish past Donnarumma. As Opta noted, it was the earliest City had gone 2-0 down in a Premier League match since November 2019, when they trailed Liverpool by two goals after 13 minutes, and the earliest Forest had been two goals to the good in a home league game since May 1999 against Sheffield Wednesday.

Forest could even have had a third before the break. James McAtee, another City academy graduate, skied an effort from 16 yards after Forest had again robbed City of possession. City’s best chances of the first half were spurned by Enzo Fernandez, whose header from six yards flew over from Guehi’s cross, and by Erling Haaland, who was largely a spectator until the 40th minute, when he rounded goalkeeper Matz Sels only for Jair to clear his shot heroically off the line.

Head coach Enzo Maresca reacted at half-time, replacing Guehi and Gvardiol with Matheus Nunes and Nico O’Reilly, and City found a lifeline seven minutes after the restart. Jeremy Doku was clear down the left and his cross was deflected into the path of Cherki, who slammed a wonderful half-volley into the top corner from the edge of the area to make it 2-1.

For a while, a City comeback looked possible. Haaland curled an effort just past the top-right corner as the visitors pushed for an equaliser, and they finished the match with 78 per cent of the ball and 33 touches in the Forest penalty area to the hosts’ 14, according to GOAL’s match data. Yet Forest remained dangerous on the break: Ryan Yates saw a shot take a huge deflection off Anderson and bounce off the top of the crossbar, and then, in the 73rd minute, the decisive counter arrived.

Delap set Morgan Gibbs-White free in Forest’s own half and the two raced the length of the pitch. Gibbs-White returned the ball to the striker, who sent an emphatic left-footed finish crashing in off the far post. Head coach Oliver Glasner sprinted down the touchline in celebration. Delap was substituted in the 87th minute for Igor Jesus and left the field to a huge ovation from the City Ground.

Delap’s night of vindication

For Delap, this was the night his Forest career truly began. The 23-year-old joined the club in a club-record move from Chelsea in the summer, but he had scored only once in his opening eight games before Saturday, and questions were being asked about whether he could be the striker to fire Forest away from trouble.

His answer was emphatic. This was only the second Premier League brace of his career, the first having come for Ipswich Town against Aston Villa in September 2024, and it made him just the second player ever to score twice in a Premier League match against City after previously representing them in the competition, after Nicolas Anelka for Bolton Wanderers in December 2006, according to Opta.

Delap came through City’s academy before leaving to make his name elsewhere, first at Ipswich and then at Chelsea, and there was an unmistakable edge to the way he celebrated his second goal. He had waited all season for a first goal at the City Ground; by full time he had two, and Forest had their first home win of the campaign.

The victory could be a coming of age for both player and club, as the Press Association observed in its match report. Forest had won only once in their opening nine league games under new head coach Glasner, who had delivered a damning assessment of their form the previous week, and they arrived at this fixture still goalless on their own turf. They were at risk of becoming only the fourth team in English top-flight history to fail to score in their first five home matches of a campaign. Instead, they scored three against the champions.

Alarming signs for City

For City, the defeat was alarming in ways that went beyond the scoreline. They were heavy favourites against a side that had not scored at home all season, yet they were completely outmatched in midfield during a furious opening 20 minutes and never recovered their composure.

The numbers tell the story of a team that dominated the ball but not the match. City ended with 78 per cent possession and completed 547 more passes than Forest, according to The Times’ live coverage, yet they managed only one goal and were repeatedly undone by basic errors: Gvardiol dispossessed for the opener, a midfield mix-up for the second, and a defence caught up the pitch for the third.

It was the first time City had conceded three goals against a team that started the day inside the Premier League’s relegation zone since September 2019, when they lost 3-2 at Norwich City, and the first time Forest had ever scored three goals against a side that started the day in the top two of the table, according to Opta.

City’s slump follows defeats to Aston Villa and Brighton, and it comes in a season already shadowed by uncertainty. The Press Association noted that the defeat arrived against the backdrop of the club’s ongoing appeal against Premier League charges, and that their season is showing signs of falling apart. Maresca, who took charge following Pep Guardiola’s exit, now faces the international break with serious questions to answer about his side’s defensive organisation and their ability to handle physical, counter-attacking opponents.

The wider picture in the table only sharpens the sense of a shifting landscape. Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Hull, sealed by Martin Odegaard, kept the Gunners six points clear at the top, while the day’s other results added to the drama: Leeds United beat Tottenham 1-0 through Noah Okafor, and Fulham drew 1-1 with Newcastle after Rodrigo Muniz cancelled out Jacob Murphy’s opener. Most remarkably, the result at the City Ground dropped Manchester United into the relegation zone overnight on Saturday, the first time they have been there at least nine games into a season since September 1986, at the start of Sir Alex Ferguson’s reign, according to Opta.

Analysis: Why It Matters

1. The title race has a new shape

When City won their first seven league matches of the season, the title race looked like a procession waiting to happen. Three defeats later, they trail Arsenal by six points before the middle of November, and the gap feels like more than a number. Arsenal have been ruthless and consistent, while City have suddenly become a team that can be beaten by anyone with a plan and the courage to carry it out.

Six points in November is not a crisis in itself; City have overturned bigger deficits in the past, and the international break gives Maresca two weeks to work on the training ground. But the manner of these defeats matters more than the arithmetic. Villa, Brighton and now Forest have each exposed the same weaknesses: a midfield that can be run through, a defence that switches off in transition, and an attack that can dominate possession without creating enough clear chances. Opponents will have watched this match closely, and every team in the league now has a template.

2. Forest have found their identity under Glasner

For most of the season, Forest have looked like a team still searching for what they are under their new head coach. Glasner’s public criticism of their form last week was a gamble, and the response at the City Ground suggests it may have landed. Forest pressed high, hunted in packs, and attacked with directness and pace whenever they won the ball back. They had only 22 per cent of possession and still won 3-1, which tells you everything about how effective their game plan was.

The win does more than lift Forest to 16th with nine points. It breaks a psychological barrier: the home goal drought, the winless run, the feeling that the City Ground had become a place where Forest could not win. A first home victory since April changes the atmosphere around the club entirely, and it gives Glasner something concrete to build on. If Forest can defend with this discipline and counter with this speed, they have the tools to climb away from trouble.

3. Delap may have announced himself as Forest’s main man

Big-money strikers are judged on goals, and Delap’s return of one in eight games before this match was not good enough for a club-record signing. But the quality of his two finishes on Saturday — the power and composure of the first, the ruthlessness of the second — showed why Forest paid so much for him.

Delap’s story adds spice to the performance. He grew up in City’s academy, and scoring twice against his former club in a game of this magnitude is the kind of statement that can define a player’s season. Forest need a reliable goalscorer if they are to stay clear of the relegation fight, and this match suggested Delap can be that player. His partnership with Gibbs-White, who set up the third goal with a surging counter-attacking run, looked like the foundation of something promising.

4. City’s midfield problem is now impossible to ignore

City’s dominance of possession masked a deeper problem: they were second best in the middle of the pitch for most of the evening. Schlager and Anderson ran the game for Forest in the first half, while City’s midfield was, as Opta’s report put it, nowhere to be seen when Forest doubled their lead. Maresca’s half-time changes improved things, but the damage had been done.

This is the area where City’s season will be decided. Guardiola’s great City sides were built on control of midfield, and the current team has looked vulnerable there all season. The international break gives Maresca time, but it also gives rival coaches time to study how Forest, Villa and Brighton each found joy in the same spaces. If City cannot fix their midfield balance, the six-point gap to Arsenal could grow rather than shrink.

5. A remarkable day for the Premier League’s old order

Saturday was one of those days that reminds you why the Premier League is the most watched league in the world. Forest beating City, Leeds beating Spurs, and Manchester United dropping into the bottom three on the same afternoon is the kind of chaos that no scriptwriter would dare to invent. The fact that United’s fall into the relegation zone came on the same day City lost their third straight match only added to the sense that the old certainties of English football are being rewritten.

For the neutral, this is the best possible news. A title race with a genuine challenger at the top, a relegation battle involving some of the biggest names in the game, and a promoted sense that any team can beat any other on any given Saturday: that is what makes the Premier League compelling, and this weekend delivered it in full.

What to Watch Next

1. City’s response after the international break: Maresca has two weeks to address the defensive and midfield problems exposed in the last three matches. City’s next fixtures will show whether this slump is a blip or the start of a genuine title-race collapse.
2. Arsenal’s lead: Six points clear and unbeaten in their stride, Arsenal will see this as their moment to consolidate. The gap is already significant; if City slip again after the break, it could become commanding.
3. Forest’s follow-up: The challenge for Glasner’s side is to prove this was not a one-off. A win of this magnitude means nothing if it is followed by a return to the form of the opening nine games.
4. Delap’s confidence: Two goals against his former club could be the spark that turns Delap’s season around. If he starts scoring regularly, Forest’s survival prospects improve dramatically.
5. Manchester United on Sunday: United, now in the bottom three, face Aston Villa at Old Trafford on Sunday in a match that has suddenly taken on enormous significance for their season and for their manager’s future.

Sources

• Opta Analyst — Nottingham Forest 3-1 Man City Stats: Liam Delap Scores Twice as City Fall to Third Straight Premier League Defeat
• Glasgow Times (Press Association) — Liam Delap scores double as Nottingham Forest upset odds to beat Man City
• The Times — Premier League live: score, updates and analysis
• GOAL via Yardbarker — Manchester City player ratings vs Nottingham Forest
• City Xtra — Match Report & Player Ratings: Nottingham Forest 3-1 Man City