A lack of cutting edge and creativity cost Manchester City against Nottingham Forest | OneFootball

Manchester City fell to a 1-nil defeat to Nottingham Forest yesterday at the City Ground. An 83rd-minute Callum Hudson-Odoi strike consigned Pep Guardiola’s side to a costly defeat. But throughout the game, we saw a toothless Manchester City side fail to break down Nottingham Forest’s stubborn rearguard. That ultimately cost the world champions as they left the door open for Forest to pounce. It was an opportunity that Nuno Espirito Santo’s side seized upon yesterday. But watching City play, they just lacked any cutting-edge and creativity, and they paid the price for that at full-time.

A look at Pep Guardiola’s starting lineup for yesterday’s match showed a plethora of attacking options at his team’s disposal. Erling Haaland led the line. Savinho and Jeremy Doku were out on the wings. Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva played as dual nunber 10’s, especially in the first half. Even Pep Guardiola’s substitutions brought on even more attacking flair. But the introduction of Kevin De Bruyne and Omar Marmoush failed to make a difference in yesterday’s match. You do have to wonder why. First of all the Nottingham Forest defence deserves credit for their display. They were superb yesterday. Ola Aina at right-back effectively took away Manchester City’s left-hand side with a superb performance. But after, that you have to look at why City failed to fire in the final third.

There was no service at all for Erling Haaland to feed off of yesterday. Doku and Savinho lacked quality out wide. That didn’t change with the introduction of Kevin De Bruyne or Omar Marmoush. Through the middle Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva were largely ineffective. Foden had some nice moments with a couple of crosses but he couldn’t influence the game. Perhaps Bernardo’s presence crowded out Foden. But whatever the caus,e was City failed to make their possession dominance ,count and in the end, that cost them dearly.

Nico was right that City held Nottingham Forest for the majority of the game but their failure to create any meaningful chances cost them dearly.

In an interview published on mancity.com Spanish midfielder Nico spoke his frustration with the manner of Manchester City’s defeat. He believed Manchester City played well, but ultimately, the game played into Forest’s hands during the latter stages of the match. Speaking after the game he explained: “We had our chances. We were much better than them in the first half. Second half I think it was a more open game. In the last minutes when you lose, it isn’t easy. Yeah I think apart from the goal I can’t remember another clear chance for them. That means we did a really good job defensively. At the end they wanted to keep the result 0-0 and they knew they would have a chance on the counter, or a corner, that’s why they’re third in the league and in a Champions League spot. It’s tough, it’s tough to accept it. But we have to keep working.”

Nico is right about City’s ability to limit Nottingham Forest yesterday. Forest only had two chances of note yesterday. Both fell to Callum Hudson-Odoi in the second half. One was saved by Ederson and the other opportunity won the game late on. But that’s the problem. If Manchester City fail to create any chances or take any they leave themselves open to a defeat like the one they suffered yesterday. A lack of cutting edge cost them, and it’s something they need to rectify quickly if they are to qualify for next season’s Champions League.