As a guest at the City Ground, Man City's mission is to win because in the previous match Arsenal - the team competing fiercely with them - had 3 points against Tottenham. The challenge with the blue half of Manchester is not easy because Nottingham Forest is very thirsty for points to stay relegated. In addition, The Citizens also do not have the strongest force when many key players are absent.
However, coach Pep Guardiola still proves that he is a master of innovations. Without Foden and Kovacic, the Spanish coach used two players, Jack Grealish and Doku, to replace them. Surprisingly, Jack Grealish and Doku rarely appeared together before because the duo's playing style and position were somewhat similar.
In addition to the above arrangement, Nathan Ake and Josko Gvardiol also changed roles in defense. Josko Gvardiol was pushed to the left wing, participating more in the attack while Nathan Ake played center back with Manuel Akanji.
Man City needs points but coach Pep Guardiola is still confident in rotating the squad
Coach Pep Guardiola's changes brought surprising results. In the first half, the ball almost only rolled on Nottingham Forest's side of the field. The two wing corridors with speedy Jack Grealish and Doku made it difficult for the home team's defense to defend. Man City held the ball more than 1% and continuously bombarded Nottingham Forest's goal. Man City proves that coach Pep Guardiola leaving Erling Haaland - a striker with 70 goals in the Premier League this season on reserve - is not a problem for them.
On a day of playing in a position that is not his forte, Josko Gvardiol played excellently. The Croatian player locked down the home team's most dangerous "detonator", Anthony Elanga. Not only that, the times Josko Gvardiol climbed the edge he was also full of speed, no different from a player who usually plays in an attacking position. In the first half, it was Josko Gvardiol who ran smartly and headed accurately, opening the score for Man City.
Witnessing Josko Gvardiol shine, Sky Sport commentators exclaimed: "This is crazy, coach Guardiola is a true football genius and a top tactical thinker. He discovered Josko Gvardiol as a player who could play on the wing and attack. Man City's back line now has three centre-backs, sometimes four and that makes Man City proactive in attack and solid in defense.
Josko Gvardiol played excellently despite being placed on the left wing
If in the first half Nottingham Forest faced Man City's speedy players, in the second half they were "troubled" by the technical Matheus Nunes and Mateo Kovacic. At the same time, De Bruyne - a prominent player since the beginning of the match - was also given free play by coach Pep Guardiola. In the 1st minute, the Belgian player threw a precise pass, putting Haaland in a position to face goalkeeper Murillo. Haaland also did not make any mistakes to score a 2-71 victory for Man City.
Haaland has his 21st goal in the Premier League in the 2023-2024 season
The win against Nottingham Forest marked a series of 19 consecutive unbeaten matches for Man City in the Premier League season 2023 - 2024. They also won the last 5 matches to have 79 points.
Coach Pep Guardiola's team is currently ranked 2nd, 1 point behind top team Arsenal but still has 1 match in hand. Man City's remaining 3-round schedule is lightly rated against Arsenal and they are aiming for their 4th consecutive championship.
