Manchester City 3-0 Nottingham Forest (Silva 8′, De Bruyne 31′, Doku 57′)
ETIHAD STADIUM — Shortly after Manchester City’s second goal of the evening, normal service inevitably having resumed for a while at least, a large group of home supporters behind Stefan Ortega’s goal cleared their voices with mischief on their mind.
“City’s staying up,” was their ditty, to the tune of Three Lions. They’re probably right, off-pitch developments notwithstanding. The oddest run of poor form in Pep Guardiola’s managerial career is no more. Perfection is still a distant goal, but nobody is inspecting the teeth of a home win.
Guardiola has been asked repeatedly recently about any lingering personal issue with Kevin De Bruyne, and scoffed every time. The most emphatic response was to include De Bruyne in a Premier League starting XI for the first time since 18 September. That felt symbolic before we started. So it proved.
The fact remains: Erling Haaland is a happier man, and more prolific striker, with De Bruyne on the pitch. They had started four league games together this season and Haaland had scored nine goals in four wins. Stretch the analysis back further and Manchester City had won 21 and drawn the other five of the last 26 league games in which that pair had started.
Freshness came out wide too. The purchase of Jeremy Doku was surprising partly because his game, and his best position, seemed unerringly similar to Jack Grealish. Against Forest, Guardiola started both wingers for only the second time in the Premier League.
Doku produced his best in a good while. He shed his frustrating habit of trying to beat a man three times when one might do, taking on Ola Aina both ways and delivering a low cross more often than not.
Haaland is still searching for his own salvation from a prolonged drought by his usual standards, but De Bruyne was the difference maker. He assisted the first, finding space to head the ball across goal to Bernardo Silva. He scored the second from inside the penalty area, taking any frustration out with a swing of the right.
The atmosphere was low-key at the start, as if home supporters weren’t quite sure how to deal with being heavy favourites when unsure of their own selves. Empty spaces dotted the Etihad, a pointed warning to those super clubs who are currently putting up prices and assumed that bums will eternally land upon empty seats. Think of who could have filled them.
De Bruyne turned up the volume, literally and figuratively. If this is to be his last season in England before a handsome offer from a far-off league, we should make a point of checking in regularly on the farewell tour.
Give this man 10 yards of space and he will weave you a dream. The standing ovation to mark his second-half departure was deserved. My goodness they have missed him.
Forest were City’s best supporting actor. Nuno’s team simultaneously sat deep, proceeded to leave gaps in front of their defence and allowed runners to dash through untracked during a comically open first half.
Josko Gvardiol should have scored twice in the opening 30 minutes. For a team that has been defensively sound for most of this campaign, Forest were ragged and often defensively disjointed. This was a sobering lesson of dealing with an elite attack.
There were scares, as is customary these days. “If” and “but” are the words of a helpless fool; count Chris Wood amongst them after a one-on-one miss at 1-0 that really could have caused nerves to jangle. Forest were a threat on the break with Anthony Elanga and Morgan Gibbs-White in combination, but never exact enough to merit parity.
Ultimately this may mean everything or nothing at all. Manchester City are in a rare position as the distant chaser, left with no choice but to win every match and hope that is enough. The situation isn’t fixed because this club has got so used to winning that only winning will do.
But Wednesday night was a reminder of what we always knew and had been waiting to see again. Manchester City had some swagger by full-time, a collection of touch-and-turns, give-and-goes to rediscover that muscle memory. Their creative force was back and back in the groove. The two things are typically mutually inclusive.