Nottingham Forest 1-2 Man City: Cherki stars to seal eighth straight win

Rayan Cherki scored one goal and set up another as Manchester City saw off a resilient Nottingham Forest 2-1 at the City Ground.

Match Report

Cherki, who is one of Europe's most in-form players, netted City's winner in the 83rd minute of Saturday's contest.

That goal sent Pep Guardiola's team to the top of the Premier League table, ahead of Arsenal facing Brighton later on.

A low-key first half made way for an end-to-end second period, with Cherki slipping in Tijjani Reijnders to open the scoring in the 48th minute.

With Cherki having struck the post, Omari Hutchinson pulled Forest level soon after, and it looked as though Sean Dyche's team may claim a hard-fought point when John Victor brilliantly denied Phil Foden from close range.

Yet Cherki cropped up with a fantastic first-time finish from Josko Gvardiol's knockdown off a clever set-piece routine, as Guardiola's side claimed a sixth straight league win.

Data Debrief: Half-century up for Cherki

It is now eight Premier League goal involvements for Cherki since the start of November. In that time, only Erling Haaland (11) and Bruno Fernandes (nine) have more.

Cherki's assist for Reijnders means he has now set up seven league goals since November 1, which is more than any other player in Europe's top five leagues. He now has 50 goal involvements in his top-flight career, too (16 goals, 34 assists).

The former Lyon star was exceptional, creating a game-leading three chances and having four shots, a tally bettered by only Foden (five), while Cherki matched the England international for touches in the opposition box (seven).

City have now won six consecutive Premier League games in the same season for the first time since winning their final nine matches of the 2023-24 campaign, a run that saw them storm to the title ahead of Arsenal. Their current streak might just send a shiver down the Gunners' spines.

Match Events

0' The match is about to start!

0' Highlight from Nottingham Forest vs Man City

7' Really good first chance for Morgan Gibbs-White from a Callum Hudson-Odoi cross

10' Cherki goes down in box and no pen!

25' Foul from Nico

30' Donnarumma clashes with Nottingham Forest players!

36' Yellow Card! Ruben Dias booked

46' Highlight from Nottingham Forest vs Man City

48' Reijnders links up with Cherki to open scoring! Nottingham Forest 0-1 Man City

51' Reijnders fires the ball to sky

54' Omari Hutchinson draws Forest level! Nottingham Forest 1-1 Man City

66' Good save Donnarumma

74' Victor denies Foden after an excellent combination move involving Cherki

86' GOAL! Nottingham Forest 1-2 Man City (Rayan Cherki)

Line-ups

Nottingham Forest XI: John Victor, Elliot Anderson, Milenkovic, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi, Dominguez, Neco Williams, Igor Jesus, Nicolò Savona, Omari Hutchinson, Murillo

Subs: Sels, Zinchenko, Taiwo Awoniyi, Douglas Luiz, Muinga, Dilane Bakwa, Morato, McAtee, Zach Abbott

Man City XI: Ruben Dias, Bernardo Silva, Donnarumma, Haaland, Foden, Reijnders, Matheus Nunes, Nico González, Cherki, Gvardiol, Nico O'Reilly

Subs: Ake, Rodri, James Trafford, Lewis, Savinho, Abdukodir Khusanov, Reigan Heskey, Divine Mukasa, Ryan McAidoo