For much of this game it looked as though the Premier League weekend could feasibly end with third and ninth place in the Premier League being separated by just four points. But Callum Hudson-Odoi came up trumps as he did in the 1-0 win over Liverpool in September to underline a burgeoning Big Game quality that’s sure to be attracting England boss Thomas Tuchel right now, in a moment that made a mockery of the Ederson vs Alisson debate that once raged and put a Nottingham Forest toe in the Champions League.
The first half was particularly tedious at The City Ground as the two teams focused on not losing rather than claiming the three points that would have given them a not insignificant advantage over the chasing pack, with Manchester City bringing a typically dynamic Forest team down to the all-too leisurely level that has defined the reigning champions’ season.
One-on-one chances were bottled, the defences were rarely stretched, the ball was aimlessly recycled, and the football was stale and predictable to the point where passes between the lines weren’t even spotted let alone attempted.
It improved after half-time as both teams quite rightly appeared to realise the benefit of a win was worth the risk of defeat. City found pockets of space in front of the Forest defence that weren’t there before the break, with the introductions of Omar Marmoush and Kevin De Bruyne making a marked difference to the fluency and speed of their football.
But they failed to create all that many clearcut chances faced with the again dominant centre-back pairing of Nikola Milenkovic and the joyous Murillo, while Ola Aina and Neco Williams were also typically brilliant on either side of them.
The increased intent from City also granted Forest opportunities on the break, most of which they failed to take advantage of, either through poor decisions or decent defending, but they carved out two great chances for Callum Hudson-Odoi, which brought out the very best and then the very worst of Ederson.
The save was genuinely brilliant. He had so little time to react as Hudson-Odoi cut inside, with City defenders blocking his view for at least half of the ball’s path from boot to glove before he tipped it onto the post. It was a stop worthy of The Best Goalkeeper In The World, but his error to gift Forest victory after a week in which his former rival for that crown produced That Performance against PSG highlights the now huge difference between the pair. The Alisson vs Ederson debate is now a laughing matter.
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It was a wonderful switch by Morgan Gibbs-White, with the accuracy and pace on the pass giving Hudson-Odoi plenty of time to run at Josko Gvardiol. But it wasn’t a great finish, hit with no real power on Ederson’s side, with the Brazilian weirdly failing to get his hand in the right spot to block it. Nuno Espirito Santo was as shocked on the touchline as the rest of us at seeing the ball squeeze inside the near post.
We don’t sign up for every goal scored at the near post being the goalkeeper’s fault – it’s a nonsense – but it was clear from Ederson’s reaction that he recognised this was something approaching a howler.
Good from Hudson-Odoi though, who said afterwards that he puts his consistent performances down to “going into every game with confidence” that was clearly lacking for so much of his up-and-mainly-down Chelsea career. He’s unlikely to start for England, but Tuchel must be looking at his direct, powerful running and desire to make things happen and be considering him as an impact substitute.
The result means City have now claimed just one point in their last seven games against teams in the top four and gives Forest a massive advantage in the race for Champions League football. Fifth place will almost certainly be enough to guarantee qualification given Premier League success in Europe this season, and with none of the other teams vying trusted to put any sort of run together, their seven-point gap to sixth feels even bigger than it might otherwise.
After no European football for 29 years, amid what have been widespread doubts over their ability to stay the course with greater resourced teams queuing up behind them, Forest now look more likely than not to qualify for the very highest level.