Manchester City suffered a third consecutive Premier League defeat, losing at Nottingham Forest after conceding two goals within the opening 19 minutes. The result leaves City looking over their shoulder rather than up the table as their defensive frailties continue.
Another defensive collapse
City conceded two goals in under 20 minutes at the City Ground. Josko Gvardiol was caught out of position for the third time in six minutes, and shortly after, Iliman Ndiaye and Elliot Anderson left a bouncing ball to each other, allowing Liam Delap to race through and fire in a second.
The goals were part of 16 conceded in the last eight games, nearly all featuring poor defending. Conceding one such goal would embarrass a team with trophy ambitions, let alone two in such a short spell.
Second-half response falls short
Maresca made two changes at half-time, and Rayan Cherki pulled one back with a half-volley early in the second half. However, too many mistakes on the ball and abject decision-making in the final third prevented City from building on that.
Forest then broke and Delap added a third. City had 80 per cent possession, yet few could argue they deserved anything from the game.
Comparisons and concerns
The defeat recalled City's trip to Leicester in Pep Guardiola's first year, when they conceded three and the manager said he was "not a coach for the tackles." Another Leicester defeat in 2020, where Delap made his league debut and City lost 5-2, prompted the signing of Ruben Dias the following week.
Maresca does not have that luxury. City spent heavily in summer, with more than £265m of talent in midfield alone that was not good enough before considering the defence.
Three defeats in a row and 17 goals conceded in eight games are not acceptable. Arsenal's back-to-back 1-0 wins have opened a six-point gap at the top, and City risk looking down rather than up if this continues.
What next for City
City's start was better than expected, with seven wins from their first seven league games. The performance at Villa was not terrible aside from individual mistakes, but they were worse against Brighton and this was the worst of the lot.
Maresca shook the Forest manager's hand before the final whistle, and many in the away end left before the players showed their support and headed to the tunnel. Something needs to change, and preferably before Maresca is forced to make multiple changes in the middle of their next match.
