Nottingham Forest landed a huge punch in Manchester City’s fight for a Champions League spot, with Callum Hudson-Odoi scoring a late winner for a 1-0 victory in a crucial top-four battle on Saturday. City’s season has been a mess, and now even their usual lock on a Champions League place is in doubt after their ninth league loss this year. Pep Guardiola’s team, winners of six titles in the last seven seasons, aren’t used to sweating over a top-four finish—but this defeat at the City Ground left them nervous.
Chelsea, sitting fifth and just one point behind City, could leapfrog them if they beat struggling Leicester on Sunday. Even fifth place might still get City into Europe’s top competition, depending on how English teams do in continental tournaments this season. But if they want to scrape by with that, they’ll need to step up big time after this lifeless showing. Meanwhile, third-placed Forest, now four points ahead of City, grabbed only their third win in eight league games and are dreaming of their first Champions League run since 1980-81—a fairy-tale season after nearly getting relegated last year.
The game had an emotional touch early on. Forest legend Stuart Pearce, a former defender, was taken ill on a flight this week and rushed to hospital. Three minutes in—nodding to his old number three shirt—the big screen flashed, “Get Well Soon Stuart.” Forest seemed to channel Pearce’s famous grit in a fiery finish after a sleepy first half. Both teams started shaky, with City’s Nico Gonzalez firing just wide from 25 yards. The bright sunshine by the River Trent made the game feel slow, despite the high stakes.
City nearly scored when Josko Gvardiol set up Phil Foden, but Nicolas Dominguez blocked the shot. Then Bernardo Silva blasted over with Erling Haaland wide open, waiting for a pass that didn’t come. Forest’s Matz Sels finally had to work, stopping a Jeremy Doku shot, while Morgan Gibbs-White’s awful attempt sailed closer to the corner flag than the net—a sloppy moment in a messy game. After halftime, Anthony Elanga’s cross found Dominguez, whose volley made City keeper Ederson dive into action.
Guardiola threw on Omar Marmoush, Kevin De Bruyne, Rico Lewis, and Mateo Kovacic to shake things up, but it didn’t work. Forest found their groove late. Ederson tipped a curling Hudson-Odoi shot onto the post, and though Sels saved a De Bruyne free-kick, Hudson-Odoi sealed it in the 83rd minute. Gibbs-White dropped a perfect pass, and Hudson-Odoi cut inside, smashing the ball past Ederson’s weak dive at the near post. The City Ground went wild as Forest snatched the win.
