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| HT:0–0 Report | |||||||
| Event | Premier League 2024-25 | ||||||
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| Date | Saturday 8 March 2025 | ||||||
| Venue | City Ground, Nottingham | ||||||
| Player of the Match | Callum Hudson-Odoi | ||||||
| Referee | Chris Kavanagh | ||||||
| Attendance | 30,252 | ||||||
| Weather | 15 °C (59 °F) | ||||||
← Nottm Forest - Ipswich Town Man City - Plymouth Nottm Forest - Ipswich Man City - Brighton → | |||||||
Nottingham Forest v Manchester City was a match which took place at City Ground on Saturday 8 March 2025.
Team News[]
Nottingham Forest[]
Nottingham Forest made six changes for Monday's FA Cup tie against Ipswich, which they won on penalties, and key players such as Chris Wood and Morgan Gibbs-White are set to return to the starting line-up.
Back-up goalkeeper Carlos Miguel may again miss out with a hamstring problem.
Manchester City[]
Manchester City defender Nathan Ake was forced off at half-time against Plymouth last weekend and has since had surgery on a long-standing foot issue, sidelining him for at least 10 weeks.
Rodri, John Stones and Manuel Akanji are also unavailable.
Match facts[]
Head-to-head[]
- Manchester City are vying to win four consecutive top-flight games against Nottingham Forest for the first time.
- City have won the past three Premier League meetings by an aggregate score of 7-0.
- The last time theses sides met in the top flight with Forest higher in the table was on 18 December 1995, in a 1-1 draw at Maine Road. Erling Haaland's father, Alf-Inge, was an unused substitute for Forest that day.
Nottingham Forest[]
- Forest are winless in three league fixtures (D1, L2) since beating Brighton 7-0 last month.
- But they are unbeaten in seven top-flight home games (W5, D2) since defeat by Newcastle in November.
- Chris Wood has been involved in 11 goals in his last nine Premier League games, scoring eight and assisting three.
- Wood netted Forest's only goal in five league meetings with City since promotion in 2022, scoring the equaliser in a 1-1 draw at the City Ground on 18 February 2023.
- Ryan Yates has netted two goals in his last three games in all competitions, as many as in his previous 26 appearances.
Manchester City[]
- City have taken one point from a possible 21 (D1, L6) in their last seven league matches against sides starting the day in the top four, conceding at least twice in each of those fixtures.
- They have scored 21 Premier League goals this calendar year, a joint high with Liverpool, while their tally of 16 points is only bettered by the Merseysiders and Arsenal, with 22 and 18 points respectively.
- The reigning champions have made 77 changes to their starting line-up in the top flight this season, second only to Ipswich's total of 80.
- City have conceded the opening goal in 19 games in all competitions this term, matching their highest figure under Pep Guardiola, set during his first season in charge in 2016-17.
- Erling Haaland's winner at Tottenham last month saw him become the second player to score at least 20 goals in each of his first three Premier League seasons, emulating Ruud van Nistelrooy for Manchester United between 2001 and 2004.
Match Report[]
Callum Hudson-Odoi scored late in the second half to earn Nottingham Forest a crucial Premier League victory over fellow Champions League hopefuls Manchester City at the City Ground.
With seven minutes of an otherwise uneventful contest remaining, Hudson-Odoi collected a magnificent Morgan Gibbs-White pass in his stride before beating City goalkeeper Ederson at his near post to send the home fans into ecstasy.
In a game billed as crucial in the race to earn a spot in Europe's premier club competition next season, City had the better opportunities before the interval but lacked the pace or ingenuity to breach the home side's dogged defence.
A powerful Nico Gonzalez effort which flew narrowly wide of Matz Sels' right-hand post was the high point of a drab first half, and there few signs of improvement early in the second period despite Forest's greater urgency.
After Nico Dominguez volleyed an Anthony Elanga cross straight at Ederson within seconds of the restart, Hudson-Odoi had a low effort tipped on to the post by the Brazilian midway through the second half.
Pep Guardiola introduced Kevin de Bruyne and Omar Marmoush with 20 minutes remaining but there was little in the way of goalmouth action in the latter stages until Hudson-Odoi's moment of inspiration.
Third-placed Forest move four points clear of City, who stay fourth but could be overtaken by Chelsea if the Blues beat struggling Leicester City on Sunday.
It was not a game that will live long in the memory, but this may well go down as one of the biggest results in what has been a sensational campaign for Forest.
Nuno Espirito Santo's side now have a seven-point advantage over sixth-placed Newcastle United in the table, with fifth spot likely to be enough to secure a place at Europe's top table for the first time since 1980-81.
Forest offered little as an attacking force before the break, but a defence that has conceded only 10 league goals at the City Ground this season rarely looked like being breached as the visitors struggled to turn their possession into meaningful opportunities.
Having kept Guardiola's side at bay in the first half, the home side grew in confidence in the second and Dominguez was first to test Ederson after the restart with a first-time shot from Elanga's lofted delivery.
But it was Hudson-Odoi who sparked the second half - which seemed destined to peter out into a forgettable stalemate - into life.
The 24-year-old was denied by a superb Ederson save after showing quick feet inside the area, but the City goalkeeper was unable to keep out his low drive 25 minutes later as Forest claimed their first top-flight victory since beating Brighton 7-0 on 1 February.
City are used to challenging for Premier League and Champions League honours at this stage of the season, but Guardiola's team are in serious danger of missing out on Europe's premier club competition for the first time since 2010.
The visitors dominated possession and created the only opportunities of a muted opening, but Erling Haaland was unable to test Sels after dispossessing Chris Wood on the edge of the Forest area and Gonzalez failed to hit the target with a fizzing strike.
Guardiola was becoming increasingly frustrated with his team's lack of pace and penetration towards the end of the first half, gesticulating animatedly to his players to raise the tempo - but to little avail.
The closest the visitors came to scoring in the second half was through Mateo Kovacic, who sent a powerful strike agonisingly wide of the far post in the first minute of added time.
But Guardiola and his players can have few complaints with the outcome as they slipped to a ninth league defeat of a tumultuous season - their joint-most in a single campaign under the Spaniard.
This was also the fifth time City have failed to score in a top-flight game this season - their worst tally under Guardiola since 2016-17.
Match[]
Details[]
| 8 March 2025 12:30 GMT Live on TNT Sports |
Nottingham Forest 
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1–0 |  Manchester City
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City Ground, Nottingham Attendance: 30,252 Referee: Chris Kavanagh |
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Hudson-Odoi  83'
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HT:0–0 Report |
         Nottingham Forest
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     Manchester City
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:
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Match rules
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Match Stats[]
| Nottingham Forest | Manchester City |
|---|
| Possession ball | |
| 31% | 69% |
| Shots | |
| 9 | 14 |
| Shots on target | |
| 4 | 3 |
| Corners | |
| 3 | 2 |
| Fouls | |
| 9 | 7 |
See also[]
External links[]
 Premier League 2024–25
|
| Nottingham Forest F.C. matches - 2024–25 |
| 2024–25 Premier League |
| Arsenal (a) · Arsenal (h) · Manchester City (h) · Ipswich Town (a) · Tottenham Hotspur (a) · Leicester City (h) · Chelsea (h) |
| 2024–25 FA Cup |
| Luton Town (a) · Exeter City (a) · Ipswich Town (h) · Brighton & Hove Albion (a) · Manchester City (n) |
| 2024–25 EFL Cup |
| Newcastle United (h) |
| Manchester City F.C. matches - 2024–25 |
| 2024–25 Premier League |
| Chelsea (a) · Arsenal (h) · Tottenham Hotspur (h) · Liverpool (a) · Manchester United (h) · Chelsea (h) · Arsenal (a) · Liverpool (h) · Nottingham Forest (a) · Manchester United (a) · Crystal Palace (h) · Aston Villa (h) · Bournemouth (h) · Fulham (a) |
| 2024–25 FA Cup |
| Salford City (h) · Leyton Orient (a) · Plymouth Argyle (h) · Bournemouth (a) · Nottingham Forest (n) |
| 2024–25 EFL Cup |
| Watford (h) · Tottenham Hotspur (a) |
| 2024–25 Champions League |
| Inter Milan (h) · Slovan Bratislava (a) · Sparta Prague (h) · Sporting CP (a) · Feyenoord (h) · Juventus (a) · Paris Saint-Germain (a) · Club Brugge (h) · Real Madrid (h) · Real Madrid (a) |
| 2025 FIFA Club World Cup |
| Wydad AC (n) · Al Ain (n) · Juventus (n) · Al Hilal (n) |
| 2024 FA Community Shield |
| Manchester United (n) |
| Manchester City v Nottingham Forest |
| Premier League |
| 2024–25 |
| FA Cup |
| 2024–25 |