It was a night to forget for Nottingham Forest as Manchester City made the team rue missed chances to return to winning ways in front of their own fans.
Kevin De Bruyne – starting for the first time since September – inspired City to victory, scoring and setting one up inside the opening 32 minutes.
De Bruyne actually praised Forest for how they approached the game but it was one-way traffic all night for large parts of the game.
Forest won’t see their season defined by games against Manchester City and it’s important to take this one on the chin and focus on the next one.
Gael Clichy said that Nuno Espirito Santo was a good manager before last night’s game and that hasn’t changed on the back of a defeat to a quality City outfit.
Chris Wood and Morgan Gibbs-White of Nottingham Forest appeal to Referee Michael Oliver during the Premier League match between Manchester City FC ...
Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images
Stuart Pearce felt Forest star let Nuno Espirito Santo down vs Manchester City
He does have some credit left in the back after his efforts this season but there is no way that Chris Wood slept very well last night.
His chance with the game hanging in the balance at 1-0 to City was nothing short of a sitter and he really had to hit the target and give Forest something to hold onto.
Instead, he fired wide, trying to be too cute with his effort and moments later De Bruyne was rattling in to make it 2-0 to City.
MORE FOREST STORIES
Pearce told Amazon Prime: “They offered City too much respect early on, they sat off and allowed City to get into good positions, mainly De Bruyne and they didn’t take their chances either.
“When you miss a gilt edge chance, it’s a bad miss that is. It was a massive let-off for City and they created the problems themselves. He’s got to make the keeper work at worse.”
Wood is still the main Forest man in attack
Bizarrely, although he’s in brilliant form, it’s hard to fancy Wood when it comes to a one-on-one situation.
He’s much better when he has less time to think – as his goals against Newcastle at St James’ Park proved last season.
Wood has scored nine times this season and this one miss doesn’t make him a bad player.
The 32-year-old will come good again and Forest have a responsibility to continue creating chances for the in-form striker.
Related Posts