Enzo Maresca left Nottingham Forest with his dream start as Manchester City manager rapidly turning into a nightmare. Forest produced a thrilling performance as City slumped to a third straight Premier League loss. Maresca's leaky backline made defensive blunders, with Jair Cunha opening the scoring in the sixth minute. With Arsenal keeping another clean sheet, City head into the international break six points behind the champions after a 3-1 defeat.
The situation already looks bleak for City, but history shows only two teams have been so far behind at this stage and gone on to win the title: Manchester United in 2002-03 and City themselves in 2013-14 under Pellegrini. Fabian Hurzeler's Brighton have the opportunity to leap up to second place. Adding to City's woes, the club faces an ongoing appeal after being found guilty of breaking Premier League financial rules.
Defensive errors plagued City, with former striker Liam Delap taking full advantage. Josko Gvardiol gave the ball away for the first goal, while Iliman Ndiaye and Elliot Anderson mishandled the second. Matheus Nunes failed to challenge for the third. Former Forest winger Steve Stone criticized the disjointed defensive line. Oliver Glasner's team exploited the space.
New signing Oliver Glasner's arrival added context to the midfield struggles, with Enzo Fernandez's dynamic not clicking. Anderson, since his £116m summer move, had a miserable return. Maresca admitted his side didn't match Forest's intensity, stating 'no panic' but acknowledging the need to understand the issues after another costly defeat.
Source: BBC Sport Football · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing