Nottingham Forest’s Callum Hudson-Odoi dealt a major blow to Manchester City’s top 4 hopes as his 83rd minute strike helped his club move closer to a Champions League spot next year. With the win, Forest stayed firm at the 3rd place with 51 points while current 4th placed City have Chelsea breathing down their necks with the Stamford Bridge outfit having one game in hand.
The winger picked up a glorious diagonal pass from Morgan Gibbs-White before running into the box and beating City goalkeeper Ederson at his near post from a tight angle.
In a game of few chances, Pep Guardiola’s City team came closest when Nico Gonzalez’ long-range shot scraped the outside of the post, while Hudson-Odoi saw a curled effort pushed onto the post by Ederson.
Forest was deducted points last season for breaching the league’s financial rules and avoided the drop by just six points. This term it has faced more sanctions: A near $1 million fine for an inflammatory social media post and a stadium ban for owner Evangelos Marinakis for misconduct after a controversial defeat.
But none of that has stopped the club’s remarkable rise under manager Nuno Espirito Santo, who returned to England after winning the Saudi Pro League with Al-Ittihad.
Espirito Santo’s reputation grew after guiding Wolverhampton to promotion to the Premier League and then establishing it as a top flight club. He lasted five months at Tottenham but has worked wonders at Forest, which is also into the FA Cup quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, City’s title defense has unraveled and hopes of European glory were ended in defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League playoffs.
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Now it’s a case of damage limitation for Pep Guardiola.
The prospect of missing out on the top four remains a possibility, but having played Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea twice, the run-in looks relatively kind for City.
(With agency inputs)
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