Man City 2-2 Notum Forest: Pep Guardiola’s side ceded control of the Premier League to Arsenal after faltering against the Etihad.
Josep Guardiola looks unlikely to lift the Premier League title this season (Image: Getty Images)
As soon as Elliott Anderson’s sweet shot hit the back of the net, Pep Guardiola dashed to stare at the monitor next to his bucket seat.
What he watched was a replay of the game in which Manchester City’s hopes of winning the Premier League suffered a major setback. There has long been a suspicion that City are keeping this Premier League race alive without anything resembling the best versions of themselves.
And this was confirmation. Guardiola knew that. City lacked sparkle. There has been much debate about how much Premier League football has become or has become less attractive.
You can never put City in an unattractive box, but sometimes you can put them in a predictable box. But that predictability usually has a lot to do with the opponent’s setup. The content is not holding the ball, blocking at the lowest level, waiting for the strange counter attack and forcing Guardiola’s team to choose how to break through the defensive net.
And it can be hard work. It was certainly in the 30 minutes against Forest that the clearest opportunity came with the departure of Morgan Gibbs-White, who decided it was a choice between precision and power, but chose neither.
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Perhaps that’s because Forest’s captain doesn’t play with the same confidence as Antoine Semenyo.
Semenyo has many attributes, but given his track record, his predatory qualities are perhaps a bit underrated. He’s a thoroughbred soccer player and a fox in the box. The finish from Rayan Cherki’s assist had the style and quality of Sergio Aguero. It was innovative and visceral.
It was a moment of ingenuity that this game needed. Forest’s ultra-cautious approach was of course not unexpected, but it could lead to confusion on City’s side. Guardiola believes Rodri is not at his best any time soon, and based on this evidence he is correct.
Forest were celebrating in the center of midfield and their move for an equalizer was finished with a frighteningly clever backheel from Gibbs-White out of the area.
Immediately after Forest’s goal, City looked surprisingly vulnerable, but they turned around with a goal that Arsenal would be proud of. Erling Haaland won a corner, which distracted Forest keeper Mats Sells and allowed Rodri to head home from close range.
Rodri reacts to the draw between Manchester City and Nottingham Forest (Image: Getty Images)
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The way he scored what was considered an important goal became a hot topic. However, its importance was diluted by Anderson’s hit. It was sweet, but it was facilitated by very loose pressing from the City side, especially Phil Foden’s side.
No wonder Foden quickly made way for Jeremy Dok. But the damage had been done, and if anything Forest looked likely to continue winning and score the winning goal.
In keeping with this week’s theme, set-pieces were the most likely source of the decisive goals, with both teams creating half-chances in the closing stages.
However, Semenyo’s right-footed shot narrowly missed the target after being hit with a dead ball at the end of the game, and City’s hopes of winning another title went just a little further away.
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