Man City Round-Up, Saturday 7th November: Delap Double Sinks City as Forest Inflict Third Straight Defeat
It was a miserable evening at the City Ground as Manchester City slumped to a 3-1 defeat against Nottingham Forest, making it three Premier League losses in a row (Sports Mole) (Sky Sports) (The Guardian) (BBC Sport). Jair Cunha opened the scoring for Forest before Liam Delap put the game out of sight with two well-taken goals of his own (Sky Sports) (Football365) (Mirror) (BBC Sport). City's response came through a single goal, but it wasn't enough to prevent Oliver Glasner's side claiming their first home league win over City this season (BBC Sport).
The manner of the defeat has caused plenty of alarm. Several reports pointed to City's habit of conceding early goals and a general lack of fight, with Enzo Maresca himself admitting his side "lacked intensity" and were beaten for desire and in duels (BBC Sport) (The Guardian). The Guardian described it as a continuation of a wider pattern, noting City had looked vulnerable even during their unbeaten start to the season (The Guardian). Supporters inside the City Ground reportedly taunted Maresca with chants questioning City's form, a sign of how quickly the mood has shifted since his arrival (BBC Sport). Player ratings from the match made for grim reading, with City players handed some very low marks including a 3/10 and three 4/10s as individual errors were picked apart (Manchester Evening News).
There was further bad news on the injury front, with Maresca confirming after the game that City picked up two fresh injury concerns during the defeat (Manchester Evening News). Doku also spoke afterwards, reflecting on a frustrating night for City at Forest (ManCity.com). Earlier in the day, City had already been without a few players, with reports naming three men missing from the matchday squad following what was described as a "really tough setback" (Manchester Evening News). Ahead of kick-off, Maresca had made three changes to his starting line-up for the trip to the City Ground (Manchester Evening News) (ManCity.com).
Away from the first team, it was a much happier story for the Women's team. Khadija Shaw scored a hat-trick as City thrashed West Ham 5-0 at the Joie Stadium to move back to the top of the Women's Super League table (ESPN) (Sky Sports) (ManCity.com) (BBC Sport). Shaw described the win as "just what we needed" (ManCity.com), and the result has set up a mouth-watering trip to league rivals Chelsea next time out, with BBC Sport billing it as a genuine title race showdown (BBC Sport).
In academy news, City's Under-18s were knocked out of the Premier League Cup following a defeat to Burnley (ManCity.com). Elsewhere, former City goalkeeper James Trafford has spoken publicly about his difficult spell at the club last season, describing it as a "horrendous feeling" not playing regularly and revealing it affected his mental wellbeing enough to prompt his summer move to Leeds United (talkSPORT) (BBC Sport) (The Sun).
On the FFP front, TeamTalk reported on ongoing discussion around Manchester City's financial fair play case, with suggestions over what the club's next steps could be depending on the outcome of the findings (TeamTalk).
It all adds up to a tough end to the week for Enzo Maresca and his players, who now have the international break to regroup before trying to arrest a worrying slide in form.
This round-up is written with the help of AI, using only the day's headlines from the publishers credited above. Each point links to the original report — tap the source name to read it in full.
