De Bruyne back to brilliant best as Man City return to winning ways with Forest triumph

Manchester City finally ended their seven-game winless run with a 3-0 victory over Nottingham Forest at the Etihad. The result ends Pep Guardiola’s unprecedented winless streak, and moves City up to fourth place in the league while Nottingham Forest remain sixth.

City weren’t at their scintillating best but struck early to take the lead as the returning Kevin De Bruyne headed across goal to set up Bernado Silva for a simple tap-in inside 10 minutes. Josko Gvardiol then missed two guilt edgee chances to double City’s lead before Chris Wood missed a golden opportunity to draw Forest level after latching onto a loose City back pass.

Just moments later De Bruyne made Wood’s wastefulness pay with a typically accurate strike from inside the 18-yard box, giving Guardiola’s side a two-goal cushion after 30 minutes to relieve much of the tension inside the Etihad.

Forest made a quick start to the second period, but City weathered the early storm before finding a third goal on 57 minutes through a fabulous curling Jeremy Doku effort, that effectively killed the game as a contest.

City pushed for a fourth goal as the half went on as Forest began to accept their fate in the tie. A win and a clean sheet are everything Guardiola could have hoped for from this game before his side face Crystal Palace at the weekend, while Forest will need to regroup as they remain in Manchester to face United at Old Trafford.