Manchester City is losing ground in the Premier League title fight. The Citizens couldn’t get past a disappointing draw against relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest.
Towards the end, only the fans from Nottingham who had traveled with them could be heard in the Manchester City stadium; the majority of the supporters from Manchester seemed to have fallen into a state of shock. Nottingham Forest, coach Vitor Pereira’s relegation-threatened team, actually managed to steal a point from Manchester City.
Antoine Semenyo had put the Citizens in the lead (31st), Morgan Gibbs-White scored the 1-1 score (56th) for Nottingham. Rodri (62′) headed in to give Manchester the lead again, Elliot Anderson equalized (76′).
The 2:2 (1:0) throws Pep Guardiola’s team back significantly in the title race after the simultaneous away win by league leaders Arsenal FC (1:0 in Brighton). The Skyblues are now seven points behind the Liagprimus from London, one game behind.
Quick combinations
Manchester City were initially dominant as usual and took a deserved lead through Semenyo, but then lacked determination. And yet, after the equalizer, we managed to take the lead again, although this was once again controversial.
Midfielder Rodri made it 2-1 after a corner kick in which the goalkeeper was pressed so hard that he had no chance to leave the goal line. Attacker Erling Haaland had blocked keeper Matz Sels and thus blocked his path. This ban, which has so far been used primarily in handball, was not punished by referee Darren England. Despite all the protests, the goal counted.
Effective variant
These extremely debatable corner variants have crept into the Premier League this season. League leaders Arsenal FC, or more precisely their standard coach Nicolas Jover, introduced this tactical variant. The other English clubs are now emulating the Gunners because they have realized that scoring a goal is an easy option to implement. So does Manchester City.
How effective this variant is is clear: since 2016, around 20 percent of all hits have come from set pieces. In the current season it is a whopping 27.5 percent (before matchday 29) – and the trend is rising.
With happiness and passion
The fact that it wasn’t enough to win was because Nottingham clearly showed Guardiola’s team’s weaknesses this season. Twice they played their way to the Skyblues goal with quick combinations and overcame the defense, which seemed overwhelmed. Gibbs-White completed a counterattack to make it 1-1, Anderson played his way to the hosts’ goal with a one-two and finished ice-cold from 18 meters.
In the end, Guardiola’s team tried everything to score the winning goal, but all the Nottingham players defended so intensely as if it were already a question of direct relegation. With a lot of effort and a large portion of luck, they were able to prevent the big favorite from scoring again – and save a point.
