Delap double sinks Manchester City as Forest climb out of the relegation zone

Nottingham Forest beat Manchester City 3-1 at the City Ground on Saturday 7 November, climbing out of the Premier League relegation zone and handing the champions a third consecutive league defeat.

Liam Delap scored twice against the club where he began his career, and Jair Cunha opened the scoring in the sixth minute. It was Forest's first home win of the season and, according to ESPN, their first league victory since April.

City stay second in the table but are now six points behind Arsenal, who beat Hull 1-0 on the same day, Malay Mail reported.

Forest find their scoring touch at last

Before kick-off, Forest had not scored a Premier League goal at home all season, according to Malay Mail. That changed inside six minutes when Cunha put them in front, and Delap doubled the lead in the 18th minute to send them in 2-0 up at half-time.

City were improved after the break, Malay Mail reported, and Rayan Cherki pulled a goal back in the 52nd minute. The recovery lasted barely twenty minutes. Delap struck again in the 73rd minute to settle the match in front of a crowd of 30,762.

Forest manager Oliver Glasner sprinted down the touchline to celebrate with his players, according to Malay Mail.

The afternoon belonged to Delap. He had scored once in his opening eight games since his club-record move from Chelsea, according to ESPN, and he chose City, where he played two Premier League games at the start of his career, to break that run with a double.

A slide City have not seen in years

The numbers make grim reading for Enzo Maresca. City won their first seven league games under him, Malay Mail reported, and have now lost three in a row. According to ESPN, it is the first time in two years they have lost three consecutive league matches.

The pattern of the defeats is just as striking. ESPN reported that City have trailed at half-time in three consecutive Premier League games for the first time since 2007, and that they had not conceded three goals to a team that began the day in the bottom three since September 2019.

Maresca did not hide from it. "We won the first seven in a row and that's never happened, and now we've lost three in a row -- it's football. We have to try to be better game after game," he said.

He framed the slump as part of settling in with a squad he inherited. "I didn't know them before, and now it's three or four months that we are together. I think they need to know me and I need to know them. It's a learning journey."

"We know what we do well but we need to understand what we are not doing well and try to improve it," he added.

The defeat comes with the club still awaiting the outcome of its appeal against Premier League financial-rule charges, according to ESPN. On the pitch, a six-point gap to Arsenal is not fatal in November, but a side that opened the season with seven straight wins has stopped looking like one.

Trouble shifts across Manchester

For Forest, the three points carry them out of the bottom three. For the other Manchester club, the effect is the reverse. ESPN reported that the result sent Manchester United into the relegation places, with their own game still to play.

United host Aston Villa on Sunday 8 November at 16:30 UTC. Earlier that afternoon, at 14:00 UTC, Chelsea, the club Delap left for Forest, travel to Sunderland.