Enzo Maresca’s promising start as Manchester City manager has taken a sharp turn after a third successive Premier League defeat, with Nottingham Forest’s 3-1 win leaving City six points behind Arsenal at the international break.
The City manager left the City Ground on Saturday to chants of “can we play you every week?” from the home supporters, after Forest produced an outstanding performance beside the River Trent.
City fell behind in the sixth minute when Josko Gvardiol gave the ball away and Jair Cunha opened the scoring. Their defensive problems continued throughout the match, while Liam Delap scored twice to take advantage of further lapses.
Arsenal had beaten Hull earlier in the day without conceding, increasing the pressure on City’s title hopes.
“The first half we didn’t match [Forest’s] intensity or win duels or second balls,” Maresca said. “The first thing required in these games is intensity.
“We tried to react at 2-0 but it’s too late. We scored one, probably could have scored more but in transition we concede one more. No panic. We need to understand but no panic.”
Asked why City had lacked intensity, Maresca replied: “I need to analyse that.”
City’s early-season momentum has disappeared
City began the campaign with seven consecutive victories but have now lost to Aston Villa, Brighton and Nottingham Forest.
Only two teams have previously been as far behind at this stage of a season and gone on to win the Premier League title: Manchester United in 2002-03 and Manchester City in 2013-14 under Manuel Pellegrini.
If Brighton fail to beat Brentford on Sunday, Arsenal will become only the fourth side in Premier League history to hold a six-point advantage after 10 matches. Fabian Hurzeler’s Brighton could move up to second and close to within five points of Arsenal with victory.
City have also appealed after being found guilty of breaching Premier League financial rules. That process remains ongoing and any potential sanctions are not yet known. Even if possible punishment does not affect this season, City’s title prospects are becoming slimmer.
Former Forest winger Steve Stone told BBC Radio 5 Live: “Apart from the first goal, this hasn’t been about [individual errors] – the line is disjointed.
“The full-backs were very wide. If the ball turns over quickly and you pass it with your first pass you can be right through them. They have been exposed today.
“Oliver Glasner’s team have played through them every time.”
Rayan Cherki’s strike briefly gave City hope, but they could not complete a recovery. Iliman Ndiaye and Elliot Anderson were involved in the second goal, while Matheus Nunes failed to make a challenge for the third.
City have lost three consecutive Premier League games for the first time since four defeats in November-December 2024. They are also the second team in English top-flight history, after Sheffield Wednesday in 1904-05, to win their opening seven matches and then lose the next three.
The defeat was City’s first by two or more goals in the league against a team beginning the day in the relegation zone since a 2-0 loss to Bolton Wanderers in November 2008.
Gvardiol and Marc Guehi were withdrawn at half-time because of injuries, according to Maresca. Nunes moved to right-back, Abdukodir Khusanov went into central defence and Nico O’Reilly played on the left.
Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy told BBC Sport: “I thought City’s performance was poor in terms of mentality.
“They were sloppy with the ball, not winning duels. I would even probably go as far as saying there was probably a bit of arrogance at the start of the game from them.
“I think that there are now some big questions to ask the manager about how he gets them back on track.”
Stone added: “This is a real hammer blow to them, there is something not right about the back four at the minute.”
