Nottinghamshire

Tom Gayle
BBC Radio 5 live commentator

Image source, Getty Images

Looking through the Nottingham Forest team-sheet at Manchester City, I posed the question to my co-commentator Rachel Corsie 'how is a squad with this much talent battling to avoid relegation?'. Now the same can be said of Tottenham and West Ham, yet as it stands, one of the three look set to go down.

To be successful, your big players need to show up. Irrespective of if you're fighting for honours and European qualification at the top of the table, or scrapping down at the bottom to preserve Premier League status.

I can say with some confidence Morgan Gibbs-White, Elliot Anderson and Murillo will be playing top-flight football next season.

I know it, the players' representatives definitely know it, and I'm sure the majority of the packed-out away end who made the trip to the North West know it.

What's most important in the here and now is they all showed up and contributed significantly to a game which many, myself included, had prematurely written off as a routine Manchester City victory.

The reels and clips will naturally gravitate towards the audacity of Gibbs-White's backheel finish, Anderson's curler past one of best goalkeepers in the world, and Murillo's block on the line with just seconds of the match remaining.

However, this was a result achieved via a collective team performance, not just the pivotal wow moments delivered by this talented trio, and we shouldn't get away from the fact this was a game Vitor Pereria's side could have actually won.

If it was in doubt beforehand, this was a display which demonstrated Nottingham Forest are capable of sticking out their chests and going toe to toe with the best the Premier League has to offer.

Doing this consistently is going to be a big ask, yet for anyone questioning a desire to 'play for the shirt', look no further than the sight last night of Nikola Milenkovic taking a powerful Manchester City strike from close range, flush into this face, which he quickly shrugged off like the Terminator would, before demanding the back-line push up to try and catch the opposition offside.

We asked for your thoughts after Wednesday's Premier League game between Manchester City and Nottingham Forest.

Here are some of your comments:

City fans

Kevin: Same old same old. Switch off for the first 15 minutes of the second half, let the opponent back in the game then hope that substitutes on the hour will change things. No Marmoush when a goal is needed and none of the Nicos to shore up a woeful defence and midfield.

Dixon: As a City fan, totally disappointed at their performance, not least Foden who is the main culprit for Anderson's goal as he was the only City player closer to Anderson before the latter shot and scored. Foden didn't seem care if Anderson scored or not since he didn't attempt to tackle Anderson before the shot. City should sell him at the end of the season. I hope he won't be picked for the World Cup since he doesn't deserve a place in England team.

Martin: City looked disorganised & were too "narrow". They could not breakdown a packed Forest defence & lost the ball too easily.Forest started well but City dominated the majority of the game but reverted to sideways passing etc. same old,same old. Credit to Forest who matured during the game. Are City playing better away from home? Not good enough if they want to pressure Arsenal.

David: This current City team is a shadow of the ones of the last 10 years. Pep has run his course time for a change of manger and coaching staff for next season.

Rodrique: Disappointing end of a game which we should have seen out easily against a team who struggles to score goals. Title race not done yet because twists and turns could happen and they would. Let's pray for Arsenal to stumble and for City to win their remaining games.

Forest fans

Fosi: Great to see the fight back and the commitment, massive point! We need to cut out the mistakes and move the ball faster ! Expected to lose the game, well fought lads!

Luke: An excellent point and another performance that makes you wonder how we are where we are. Unfortunately this season, for every night like tonight there's been a night like Braga. We need to play this this for each of the remaining 9 games, and if we do we've got a chance.

Ken: The spirit shown in the second half must be carried into the remaining league games. If we do that, we should survive. Well played lads.

Sean: The team really had to put a shift in and they did. Fantastic effort and game plan from start to finish, there were even a couple of moments we could have snuck away with more. Really need to keep putting this kind of effort in now to stay up.

Ted: Manchester City didn't stumble, Forest were amazing. Awesome performance away from home. The fight was brilliant. We will stay up.

Pundits Micah Richards and Danny Murphy join host Mark Chapman to bring you the action and talking points from the midweek Premier League fixtures.

Watch on BBC iPlayer here

And listen back to full match commentaries on BBC Sounds

Shamoon Hafez
Football reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Nottingham Forest were the ones celebrating a point at the end of a frantic second half, but could well have taken home all three as the clocked ticked into added time.

Elliot Anderson, who has been linked with a move to Manchester City in the summer transfer window, swung in a corner which was met by Ryan Yates at the near post, but the substitute thumped his header the wrong side of the post.

Forest needed to get something out of the game with West Ham beating Fulham and Anderson's equaliser ensured they did not drop into the bottom three but are now perilously close to it.

Despite the unlikely point, Forest remain winless in their last six league games, while ex-Wolves boss Pereira is yet to taste victory as a top-flight manager in 13 attempts this season.

Vitor Pereira spoke to TNT Sports after Nottingham Forest's draw against Manchester City: "It is not easy to play here against City, with one day less to recover. In the end we played a good game, first half more defending, but we created two big chances to score. After their goal we started to understand the spaces they concede to us, and we scored good goal.

"It was a pity the corner [City's second goal] because we knew they would try the far post. But overall I am happy with the speed, the performance, and it is very positive to see our future together.

On his confidence of avoiding relegation: "I am very positive, I believe a lot in the quality of the players. I believe with a little bit of time, I hope next week, we can increase our level. They have quality, we are organised, and I believe with this spirit we have the conditions to get points everywhere.

"[I have had only] two training sessions with the team, because the other ones were to recover the team, not to work [on new ideas]."

On City's penalty appeals: "It's normal in football. They want to win, to push the referee, this is normal. In my opinion this is not a game we can complain about the referee."

Elliot Anderson spoke to TNT Sports: "It was massive, obviously we've had a poor run, we knew coming here we would have to fight and work hard because they are a top side. We dug out a point, we are really happy.

"It keeps us pushing, we've got such a team spirit. I couldn't fault the effort of the lads, I thought we fought really hard today."

On Morgan Gibbs-White's backheel goal: "It was a great finish and got the belief going for the team.

"We've got a few days off after a lot of games. Then we will be back on the pitch working top pick up more points in this battle."

Hear more from Pereira on BBC Sounds and listen to Anderson speaking to BBC Radio Nottingham by pressing play below or heading to BBC Sounds

Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.

Have your say on Manchester City's performance

What did you make of Nottingham Forest's display?

Come back on Thursday for a selection of your replies

Manchester City make two changes to the side that edged past Leeds United on Saturday and there is a significant return to the starting XI.

Star striker Erling Haaland has recovered from the knock that kept him out of the trip to Elland Road, replacing Omar Marmoush who drops to the bench.

Nico O'Reilly suffered an ankle issue against Leeds and it appears he has not recovered in time for this game, being replaced by Phil Foden.

Man City XI: Donnarumma, Nunes, Dias, Guehi, Ait-Nouri, Rodri, Silva, Foden, Semenyo, Cherki, Haaland.

Nottingham Forest also make two changes following their defeat by Brighton last time out.

Nico Dominguez and Jair Cunha come in for Vitor Pereira's side, replacing Omari Hutchinson and Callum Hudson-Odoi.

Nottingham Forest XI: Sels, Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Cunha, Williams, Sangare, Anderson, Dominguez, Gibbs-White, Jesus.

There are five games in the Premier League on Wednesday and BBC Sport will bring you every moment.

• Aston Villa v Chelsea - BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 2

• Brighton v Arsenal - BBC Radio 5 Live

• Fulham v West Ham

• Manchester City v Nottingham Forest -BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

• Newcastle v Manchester United (20:15) - BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 3

Kick-off times 19:30 GMT unless stated

Follow all of the action and reaction here

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