Manchester City lose third straight Premier League game as Nottingham Forest stun champions

Manchester City’s Premier League title challenge suffered another blow as they lost 3-1 to Nottingham Forest, their third consecutive defeat, leaving them six points behind leaders Arsenal.

City had opened the campaign with seven successive victories, but their form has changed sharply. They followed a 2-1 away defeat by Aston Villa with a 1-0 home loss to Brighton before Forest condemned them to another setback on Saturday.

Champions Arsenal lead the standings with 27 points from 10 games. City coach Enzo Maresca said his team were unable to match Forest’s intensity, losing crucial individual battles and second balls during a first half in which the hosts scored twice.

“In the first half, when you don’t match the intensity, when you lose all the duels, it’s difficult, and then when we want to react, it’s too late,” Maresca told Sky Sports.

“In these kinds of games, first of all, you need to match the intensity. You need to try to win duels otherwise, it’s always complicated. I think [in the] first half we were not good enough in terms of duels. Second balls, we lost all of them, and then when we tried to react, we were 2-0 down, and in football, it’s always complicated.”

City were also punished for giving the ball away cheaply for each of the three goals they conceded.

Liam Delap, who had scored only once in eight league appearances this season, produced two outstanding finishes to lead Forest to victory. The result gave the club their first home win of the campaign, as well as their first goals at home this season.

“It’s been coming, and we’ve been performing like that every week and not putting it in the net. Today [Saturday] we showed we can put them in the net, so we’re all happy,” Delap said.

“We did everything right; we got the three points, and we’re going to be happy going into the international break.”

Forest coach Oliver Glasner celebrated Delap’s second goal by sprinting down the touchline. The victory lifted Forest to 16th in the table on nine points, taking them out of the relegation zone.

Glasner said the atmosphere at the City Ground had helped his side produce a performance that would have troubled any opponent.

“It was a very good day to play Manchester City, but, to be honest, today, the energy in the team and at the City Ground was so incredible that it would have been tough for every team in the world to play against us today,” he said.

“All the credit to the players and our fans for this amazing Saturday evening.”