Star of the show: Kevin De Bruyne led Manchester City to a much-needed win over Nottingham Forest at the Etihad
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Manchester City have stopped the rot after recording a 3-0 victory over Nottingham Forest in the Premier League.
Pep Guardiola’s side arrived at the Etihad Stadium in the midst of their worst run of form for 18 years, losing four top-flight matches in a row and going seven consecutive games without a win across all competitions.
The Spaniard freshened up his side as he made four changes to the team that started the 2-0 defeat against Liverpool at the weekend.
Josko Gvardiol, Jack Grealish, Jeremy Doku and Kevin De Bruyne all came in, with Kyle Walker, Rico Lewis and Matheus Nunes dropping to the bench. Phil Foden didn’t make the matchday squad due to bronchitis.
But the night belonged to De Bruyne. Starting his first game since September 14, he was heavily involved in the first half as he claimed the assist for Bernardo Silva to give City the lead inside the opening 10 minutes.
Gvardiol then wasted two golden opportunities to increase the advantage before the game turned around the half-hour mark.
After Chris Wood spurned a great chance to equalise as a result of a poor pass from De Bruyne, City raced up the other end and doubled their lead as their No17 finished with aplomb from close range.
The visitors did start the second half strongly, but Doku’s goal just before the hour mark put the game to bed as the hosts managed to see out the remainder much better than their last home contest against Feyenoord in the Champions League.
An added bonus for City was a clean sheet, their first across any competition since the end of October. It now remains to be seen if this result can spark an upturn in form for the reigning Premier League champions.