2 hours ago
31
Manchester City beat Nottingham Forest at the City Ground with a late winner from Rayan Cherki giving them a 2-1 victory
Rayan Cherki was the Manchester City match winner again as his late goal earned the Blues all three points at the City Ground. Pep Guardiola's side lost here last season and Forest were hoping for the same result after finding their way back on level terms in the second half.
A gritty first half had seen few chances created on either side, yet the Blues struck first when Cherki sent Tijjani Reijnders through and the midfielder finished smartly. However, Omari Hutchinson levelled things up for Sean Dyche's side and they were urged on by the home crowd.
Cherki was happy to play the Christmas party-pooper though with a terrific shot fired through bodies from a corner to find the net and give City a very important win. Here are the player ratings from the Manchester Evening News.
Donnarumma: Held his own physically from set-pieces but there was a weak punch in there that could have been ugly. 6
Nunes: Found lots of space to run into in the first half, albeit found Hudson-Odoi happy to run at him for much of the second half. 6
Dias: Rode his luck a little when already on a yellow but he stayed aggressive to keep Forest at bay. 7
Gvardiol: Had his hands full with Jesus but dealt with the physical battle very well and did so well going forward. 8
O'Reilly: Struggled in the second half against the lively Hutchinson and he was unusually out of sync with Foden. 5
Gonzalez: Lucky to escape a yellow card in the first half and he tired as the game went on. 6
Silva: Knitted a lot of the play together and kept City focused for the final stages of the game to see it out. 7
Foden: Guilty of a few loose touches in the first half, had his moments but not as many as he or the team would like. 7
Reijnders: Excellent run and finish for the opener as he starts to become more reliable in front of goal. 7
Cherki: Yet again the City player that most looked like producing something and it was a neat assist for Reijnders before his terrific late finish. 9
Haaland: Worked hard, tried to be as involved as he could, although when he did get any space to get the ball in front of goal his path was always blocked. 6
Substitutes
Savinho (for Reijnders, 72) Helped his team. 6
Ake (for Cherki, 88) No time.
Not used: Trafford, Khusanov, Lewis, Rodri, McAidoo, Heskey, Mukasa
Simon is the MEN's Chief Manchester City Writer. He joined the MEN sport desk in 2013 and has covered City home and away since 2016, reporting on Pep Guardiola's time at the club.
English (US) ·