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A late Callum Hudson-Odoi strike saw Nottingham Forest take a major stride towards qualifying for the Champions League in a 1-0 win over Manchester City.
Forest came into the game riding on the high of qualifying for the FA Cup quarter finals on Monday night, defeating fellow Premier League side Ipswich Town on penalties at the City Ground.
City were recovering their form after getting dumped out the Champions League to Real Madrid, responding to their exit fro the competition with a 1-0 win against Tottenham and coming from behind to see of Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup.
There was a sweet moment in the 4th minute when the City Ground broke into a rapturous minutes applause for their former captain Stuart Pearce, who suffered a health scare on a flight on the United States.
The visitors still dominated from the offset, gaining their first chance in the 7th minute when Chris Wood clumsily lost the ball on the edge of his own box. His Norwegian counter-part, Erling Haaland, snatched the loose ball and let fly from the edge of the box, only for the ball to narrowly whizz past the post.
English midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White started brightly, but entered the referee’s book in the 27th minute for smartly but cynically preventing a City counter attack by fouling Jeremy Doku, who was baring down on the Forest defence.
Five minutes later, Nico González would join him there after lazily loosing the ball and fouling Nicolás Domínguez, who attempted to sweep up the loose ball. The home side failed to capitalise on the resulting free kick though.
As the half began to draw to a close, Jeremy Doku and Chris Wood were able to ask some late questions of Mats Sels and Ederson respectively, but neither attacker would be able to find the break through, resulting in a goalless first half.
Pep Guardiola blinked first and made the first changes of the game, as Mateo Kovacic and Rico Lewis replaced Nico González and Matheus Nunes in the 61st minute.
Despite City making the first changes, Forest grew into the game the more the second half progressed, with Callum Hudson-Odoi almost breaking the deadlock in the 67th minute when he cut inside from the left and sent a low shot hurtling towards the bottom right-hand corner; but Ederson produced a marvellous save, and pushed the ball away and onto the post.
More changes ensued in the 69th minute, when Kevin De Bruyne and Omar Marmoush replaced Phil Foden and Savinho. Ryan Yates entered the action for Forest, replacing Nicolás Domínguez. He entered the book seven minutes later.
Nuno Espirito Santo went for solidity in the last stage of the game, as midfield stalwart Ibrahim Sangare replaced pacey winger Antony Elanga.
Despite this, it was his side that soared into the lead in the 83rd minute when Callum Hudson-Odoi broke down the right hand side. After entering the box, he sent a powerful shot past Ederson’s near post, and the ball rippled the back of the net, sending the Forest faithful into a frenzy.
The goal reflects the fragility of a goalkeeping performance, as just 16 minutes prior to conceding a poor goal at his near post, Ederson was City’s hero pulling out an excellent save.
The visitors pinned in the home side as they pushed for an equaliser in the final 10 minutes of the game. Mateo Kovacic sent a powerful volley just wide of the post in the 91st minute, but City would fail to conjure any more chances from here, and Forest confidently saw out the victory, moving four points clear of the champions.
The Garibaldis travel to Ipswich Town next Saturday, meanwhile City host Brighton at the Etihad.
