Otherwise, that’s us done here. As per the below, you can now follow City Women as they attempt to clinch their league title, but otherwise, peace and love.
The Premier league table:
And here’s Will Unwin’s match report…
Some reading…
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“It was really tough,” Gvardiol tells Sky. They knew it would be, especially because of the pitch which was dry. He didn’t expect to score but found himself in a good position.
Haaland, meanwhile, says the first thing is the team, it doesn’t matter how they do it, it’s about winning, but also he’s glad to be back. “Three points, shower, next game,” he concludes.
Back to Gvardiol, he says City weren’t perturbed by Arsenal losing, the need to focus on themselves and Haaland agrees. You can’t overthink or “you’ll be crazy in the head,” he surmises, advising his teammates to relax before taking his leave. Turns out he’s a decent player after all.
City just know how to win, and when you add that champions’ mentality to their technical ability, it makes for a brew that is very hard to better. They were without their – and the league’s – player of the season today, but they got it done with plenty to spare.
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FULL TIME: Nottingham Forest 0-2 Manchester City
City close the gap at the top to one, and they’ve a game in hand on leaders Arsenal; Forest are fourth-bottom, a point above Luton and two above Burnley.
90+5 min Bobb slides down the left of the box for Haaland, who tries to slide past Sels but can’t … just.
90+4 min “Re Adaptations,” says Dylan Kenny, “two of the best in my opinion would be the polar opposites of Remains of the Day and Jurassic Park. One had Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson, the other had ruddy great big lizards and Jeff Goldblum. You can’t ask for more than that!”
90+3 min Forest can take succour from this performance, but really they’ve no business being as low as they are with the players they have. If they can just see this season out, they could be very significantly better next.
90+2 min “I’ve seen him play better, much better,” says Alan smith of De Bruyne. But of course his below-par is everyone else’s excellence, so he’s named player of the match without a serious challenger.
90 min We’ll have five additional minutes.
88 min De Bruyne and Alvarez depart, Bobb and Nunes replacing them.
88 min We’ve not been told the player of the match yet, but De Bruyne has been a class above everyone, again. What’s special about him, I think, is the physicality that elevates his technical and intellectual abilities – the power and change of pace is rare in a player of his skillset.
86 min Assuming City cling on, Forest will end today just a point above Luton and two above Burnley, suddenly in a relegation scrap they looked to have already lost. They play Forest too, last game – but next up for the Reds is a trip to Sheffield United. win that and they’ll be nicely set, because Burnley have to play Newcastle and Spurs too; Luton have Everton home, West Ham away, Fulham home.
84 min Change for Forest, Sangaré on for Boly – who Forest will delighted to have back, especially given the injury to Murillo. And that might, I’m afraid be the legacy of what’s been a decent performance, because if he’s out for any length of time, his side immediately become less likely to stay up.
83 min So, where do we rank this City side? I’ve always thought them less good than Guardiola’s first side, who were so ball-dominant it seemed like there were more than 11 of them on the pitch, but these might just make that position untenable through sheer weight of trophies.
81 min The sun shines as City pass and move, Forest chasing about because they have to.
79 min Forest huff and puff, but they know the koo. They’ll do well to lose this 2-0, and as I type, Haaland beats his man but can’t keep at i so goes backwards. Kovacic for Doku has given City much more control, and though in some games an extra explosive attacker is helpful, if they’re bossing possession like this they’re very difficult to stop.
77 min “Surely when assessing the worst movie adaptations,” says Geoff Wignall, “the the levels of pretension and portentousness should be taken into account along with ruination of the book, no? In which case I’d happily nominate Reds and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. As for best adaptations (in terms of movie quality), All Quiet on the Western Front, Catch 22 and inevitably The Godfather would fill my podium.”
I’ve not seen Catch 22, I guess I should – likewise East of Eden, another of my all-time favourite novels, read it read it read it. And for ruination, look no further than Nicholas Cage’s outing as the eponymous hero of Captain Corelli’s Madonlin.
75 min We said it earlier, but this is again the thing with City: they know how to win. Forest, though, have had proper chances, even if the sense that had they scored, City would’ve gone up a gear, seems a more likely outcome than the home side hanging on to record a famous win.
73 min Murillo, who’s been such an excellent purchase, goes down, and that’ll be him done. He’s replaced by Obamidele with Elanga and Danilo also departing, Reyna and Yates on for them.
GOAL! Nottingham Forest 0-2 Manchester City (Haaland 71)
It was coming, and here it is. Loads of City passes, then De Bruyne feeds Haaland down the right of the box, giving him Murillo one-on-one. He shapes to go inside … then schleps the jiggered groin outside, dragging the ball down the side an slotting an expert’s finish across Sels and into the far corner. Chris Wood will be feeling exceedingly poor round about now, Mikel Arteta and his men too.
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69 min “I hate to be controversial,” says Joseph Surtees, |but the Lord of the Rings books are overwritten twaddle, despite the linguistic brilliance of JRR Tolkien. The films are better. In an attempt to be less negative, I’ll share the fun fact that five-time married politician Gerhard Schröder’s nickname is the Lord of the Rings (also “Audi Man”).”
The fils have preserved the linguistic brilliance, or just done a better job of telling the story?
67 min De Bruyne’s becoming increasingly influential, picking out pockets in midfield. This time, his link-up with Haaland doesn’t work out, but the time and space he’s getting, I’d not back against him settling this … and of course as I type, he picks up possession outside the box, advances, and swishes a rising shot which Sels turns around the post. Poor Murillo, by the way, looks to have diddled his groin, but he stays on for now and the corner is cleared.
66 min It’s gone a bit quiet, which neither side will mind too much: Forest would’ve taken being a goal down going into the final stages, I’m sure, while City are happy to see time disappear … ad as I type, Murillo slides in to rob De Bruyne just as he looks to have got away.
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64 min “loved all the Diamond Brothers books,” returns Max Williams, “but The Falcon’s Malteser is the best – that title alone is genius. Amazed they haven’t been adapted more. Have met Anthony Horowitz a couple of times and he seems an utter mensch. Slightly tangential, but worst books that made the best films? The Spy Who Loved Me is a terrible book but one of the best Bonds.”
And gave us one of the best covers.
63 min Haaland backs away from the ball to turn around the corner for De Bruyne, who feeds Alvarez at inside-left – perhaps he’ll do better then than he did through the middle. But he’s running away from goal here, ramming a rising finish a few feet over the near angle.
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62 min Back to Doku by the way, will he be yet another player who explodes after an iffy first season learning what Guardiola wants from him, or will he be another Nolito?
62 min City send on Haaland for Grealish, who’s struggled to get into the game.
61 min Forest move it about nicely, playing with confidence and belief. City will be delighted to get out of here with the points, but there’s a lot of work to do before they can do that.
60 min Gvardiol oozes through midfield and, one-on-one with Boly looks to take on his man, but is easily dispossessed.
59 min “I couldn’t say for certain what the best book adaptation is,” writes JR in Illinois, “but I could say for certain what the worst one is: Bonfire of the Vanities. What a disaster. It was so bad there was a book written about how terrible it was, The Devil’s Candy: The Anatomy of a Hollywood fiasco, which I highly recommend.”
I’ve not read that, but it became a joke because a mate at law school had it in his bag the whole year. JPR, if you happen to be reading this, I hope you’ve since finished it.
57 min On the touchline, Haaland warms up, and I doubt it’ll be long until we see him. Alvarez has been anonymous and another City goal kills it.
56 min “Ben-Hur and Goodfellas were both adaptations and are two of the most important and iconic films of all time,” says Marcus Abdullahi.
And the Ten Commandments.
54 min Aina, who’s been excellent, runs Bernado out of a cross towards the far post then charges upfield, burning past Walker – not many can say that – before the Caity player gets back in.
53 min I can’t believe I forgot Trainspotting when giving some favourite adaptations. As it goes, I don’t love the film, which feels like a succession of set-pieces, but it retains enough of what makes the book great to still be great itself – and the soundtrack is a jazzer. I can’t think of many, if any intros, which evoke a time with such clarity as the opening to Born Slippy.
52 min A long ball over the top and Elanga’s away! But he dithers, Ake gets back at him, and then the flag goes up.
51 min On Gibbs-White, how far do we think he can go? He strikes me as a Klopp-type player, full of attitude, aggression and ability, especially if he can play as a box-to-box midfielder, not just an attacker. I really like him, and if he gets the right move at the right time, he can develop into something really interesting.
50 min Elanga breaks, finds Wood, and he cuts in then feeds Montiel, who lays back to the edge … and Gibbs-White curls around the base of the near post.
49 min City have looked vulnerable at the back, especially in wide areas – or, in other words, Nuno’s tactics have been good, they’ve just been let down by a lack of quality in front of goal.
47 min Oh Chris. Ohhhhhh maaaaaate! Elanga bustles away from Akanji then to and through Walker, hitting the line before flicking square to set Wood for a tap-in! But certain he’s scored, he’s slow and deliberate about his finish, allowing a further tame shot to be blocked! If he’d finished with even basic competence, Forest might be ahead.
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46 min City make two changes, Ortega replacing the injured Ederson for the third time this season, while Doku is removed presumably for being wasteful and erratic, Kovacic inserted to add solidity and poise.
46 min We go again.
“While I dearly love the Bogart version of The Big Sleep,” returns Joe Pearson, “they really had to tone down a lot of the sex and drugs from the novel. And I love the anecdote that the movie producers wired Chandler to ask who killed the chauffeur, and he replied he didn’t know.”
“He didn’t know,” a perfect distillation of Chandler’s brilliance.
“The creation of emotion through dialogue”
— Jonny Geller (@JonnyGeller) July 18, 2019
Love this letter from Raymond Chandler on the magic secret ingredient of great #writing. pic.twitter.com/7Tb3z3hyGQ
Half-time email: “The Maltese Falcon an even better film than The Big Sleep for me,” says Andy Townsend Max Williams, “adapted from a lesser book (though still brilliant). Not sure it introduced the Macguffin but probably the most famous version of it.”
Tangentially, The Falcon Malteser was one of my favourite books as a kid, I highly recommend to anyone with little people to buy for.
Half-time entertainment: for some, a fixture between these two will always be synonymous with this.
HALT-TIME: Nottingham Forest 0-1 Manchester City
Forest have played well, City lead. Obviously.
45+4 min “You know, between the Arsenal game and this, I’m beginning to think Liverpool might not win the league after all,” sighs Matt Dony.
They were never going to, I’m afraid. They and Spurs have way more points than their performances merit and no side has ever won the title when inferior to two other sides. That they’ve taken it to here is testament to the genius of Jürgen Klopp.
45+2 min The delivery is brutal too, dipping and swinging at the near post such that Ederson drops it, Murillo unable to force home in the ensuing scramble. But Forest are a proper threat here, with more attempts on goal than City; problem is, the visitors will likely improve in the second half.
45+2 min Again, Aina is the outlet for Forest and he wins a corner down the left, Hudson-Odoi to take.
45 min We’ll have four added minutes.
45 min “Many Raymond Chandler books have been adapted into excellent movies,” reckons Shom Biswas. “The Long Goodbye, my favourite Chandler, is especially is good as a movie too.
I will recommend ‘A Month in the Country’, a delightful little book by JL Carr, which I thoroughly enjoyed reading, and thought would be very difficult to film. Was pleasantly surprised – excellent movie, with a very young Colin Firth, Natasha Richardson and Kenneth Branagh.”
Agree on Chandler, whose Big Sleep is responsible not jut for one but two great films, – the other the Big Lebowski.
43 min We see footage of the City players celebrating the goal, Walker giving Gvardiol a hefty nose-tweak.
42 min Forest win a throw down the right and Aina comes over to the left to take it only to go short. Nothing comes of it, but they’re causing trouble when they go forward.
41 min Gibbs-White wins a fine challenge in midfield and the loose ball falls to Wood, who moves on for Hudson-Odoi. He’s options left and right but instead shoots, booting De Bruyne on the backswing to ruin any chance of seriously testing Ederson.
40 min “Treasure Of The Sierra Madre, The Man Who Would Be King, The African Queen and so on. John Huston was the master,” reckons Neil Daener.
38 min Aina’s been a really good outlet for Forest down the left and here he is again, flighting a fine cross towards the far post, Montiel reflects it back across and Wood’s there, five yards out … only to botch his tap-in, a weak touch sending the ball square not forwards. That is a colossal oversight.
37 min “The Third Man isn’t strictly an adaptation of a book,” reckons Paul Curievici. “Greene wrote the novel as a script treatment and it was never intended for publication, which came after the film’s success. Hoping Forest offer us Arsenal fans some Ways Of Escape today so we can embrace The Power And The Glory rather than leaving our title challenge a Burnt Out Case. Here all week, veal, etc.”
I know what you mean, but Greene did realise that to make the film he needed to write the novel first, so he did.
36 min Hudson-Odoi takes a free-kick quick, sliding down the line to Aina, who crosses towards Wood … but another of those big lads who can run, Nathan Aké, gets up early to do enough.
35 min Montiel replaces the injured Williams. I don’t think making the change before the corner would’ve stopped the goal, but you never know.
34 min It’s mad really, Guardiola is a bona fide football genius and the foremost tactical mind of his generation, yet it took him until last season to discover that players who can run and are hard can be useful. His back-fours now features three centre-backs, sometimes four, and it’s made City so much harder to disturb.
GOAL! Nottingham Forest 0-1 Manchester City (Gvardiol 32)
A corner curved to the near post and Gvardiol runs away from Gibbs-White on the far side of the box to deftly guide a fine header inside the near post. They’ve not played well, but they still lead, and that is ominous for Arsenal.
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32 min Williams limps off and though i think he’ll be OK to continue, Forest now have to defend the corner with 10.
30 min Williams blocks a Grealish shot and hurts himself in the process.
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29 min Walker crosses low from the left but De Bruyne’s shot is blocked.
27 min “I think two great examples of middling quality books being adapted into amazing films are Jaws and Die Hard,” says Jack Ball. “And it’s the obvious answer but The Lord of the Rings books were incredible as both books and films.”
I’ve neither read nor watched, but the Bible, on which Life of Brian is based, is another good example.
25 min “As a Notts County fan, and like many in the East Midlands, I’d not lose any sleep about them Tricky Trees going down,” begins Richard. “Especially.given the rather cringeworthy media love-in there seems to be with them. Personally, I think Burnley or Luton staying up rather than a millionaire’s plaything would be much more romantic.”
Burnley no, Luton fair enough. But those of us who remember the latter’s craven compliance with Thatcher’s aborted /ID card farrago might not consider anything they achieve to be “romantic”?
23 min A Danilo foul means City have a free-kick 25 yards out, left of centre … and he De Bruyne curls into Boly’s face. He takes a moment, but he’ll be fine.
22 min For a second it looks like a long pass has put Hudson-Odoi in! But Ake, who looks beaten, stretches out a leg and Steffen can then come to create.
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22 min Grealish and De Bruyne combine to welease Wgvardiol, who crosses behind.
21 min Forest will be very pleased with how they’ve started, City generally kept at arm’s length and the threat on the counter a real one.
19 min “Watching City do City things at 0-0 when you’re really hoping the match won’t be a blowout brings to mind another Wonka quote,” says Joe Pearson. “‘The suspense it terrible. I hope it will last.’”
Wonka has to be one of the greatest book adaptations ever. The Third Man is also good, the Godfather too of course. Any more for any more?
18 min The problem for Ederson is with his left shoulder, so Ortega warms up for a bit but he’s not required.
16 min Ederson is down, having come for the cross and collided wih Boly. I think he’ll be OK.
16 min Ederson can’t hold the next corner but he does get it away.
15 min And now Williams brings Forest away, his cross sent behind for a corner which yields another…
14 min Forest clear the corner but lose the ball, Doku not catching his shot which lollops wide of the far post.
13 min De Bruyne whips in a beauty, Murillo heading over the his own bar with Rodri lurking.
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13 min De Bruyne finds Doku, who twinkles between Niakhate and Aina, winning the free-kick near the right corner of the box…
12 min Gibbs-White curls over the wall … and over the bar.
10 min Aina picks up possession and charges forward so Doku, who really doesn’t want to follow him, concedes the foul. Free-kick Forest, left of centre, 25 yards out.
10 min “I would like to speculate that Pep is wearing ‘waffle weave’,” says Peter Dodd.
I’m not sure I know what that is, which I think’s a good thing.
9 min Rodri stretches across Gibs-White to unload him with a fine challenge, Grealish feeds De Bruyne down the left of the box, and he opens body to pass a finish … just past the post.
7 min “I’m with you on wanting Forest to stay up,” says Stepehen Halliday. “Have fond memories of Steve Sutton in goal for reasons I’m not really sure of. But I’d Luton to stay up too. But then I’m a Spurs fan, so I’d like Man City to stuff Forest today for obvious reasons. I’m so confused…”
As Wily Wonka almost said, so much hatred, so little time.
5 min Grealish and Gvardiol move the ball down the left, then when it comes inside, De Bruyne passes behind.
4 min City get their passing going while the crowd make lewd suggestions as to Gary Neville’s favoured pastime.
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3 min “It’s not double knit,” chides Gina Jolliffe. “Looks more like Aran weight...”
Whatever it is, it’d not be missed.
1 min Aina stomps on the gas and burns down the left, swishing over a cross that picks out the wing-back on the other side! But Williams doesn’t get hold of his shot, phutting a volley into the ground that’s then cleared away.
1 min Away we go!
Mull of Kintyre time. I hope Forest stay up or would if i wasn’t totally impartial – a proper football club the top division needs.
Our teams troop out, the City Ground decently loud.
On Arsenal, if City drop any points, they win the league if they win every game. I doubt they’re expecting that to happen today and to come, it’s Wolves (h), Fulham (a), Spurs (a), West Ham (h). Looks ominous doesn’t it.
“I’m an Arsenal supporter, and I was really hoping to see Robertson and Francis starting today for Forest,” writes Alan Baverstock. “So disappointed.”
Not even a Tommy Gaynor, a Franz Carr or a Phil Starbuck.
Merse reckons Forest might’ve done better to go 4-5-1 not 5-4-1, especially given City might not play with a proper centre-forward. I’m inclined to agree because I think they need to compete in midfield; their defence isn’t good enough to withstand constant pressure.
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Guardiola, by the way, is wearing double knit, cardy and roll-neck. I trust the Premier League have now amended 115 to 116.
“it is what is is,” Guardiola advises when asked about the absence of Foden; more news as I get it.
Nuno, meanwhile, says any result is possible, and he wants his team to go for it.
I said earlier that Guardiola football is the hardest style to beat there’s ever been; for evidence, consider the Spain side that won three competitions in a row despite fielding no recognised striker while not even being managed by Guardiola. The only similar influence I can think of is Mourinho’s Chelsea, who went on winning because of him for several years after he departed.
Looking again at the Forest side, the City changes might help their gameplan, because Grealish and Doku offer less defensively than Foden and Bernardo, who were in wide midfield on Thursday night. They’ll have to be brave, springing in numbers, but most importantly, they’ll have to make good and quick decisions when in possession.
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City, on the other hand, will do what they do, knocking it about until Forest lose patience or concentration. It’s hard to pick through a back of five and a bank of four, but no one better at doing it.
Where is the game? Well, it seems pretty clear where Nuno thinks it is, his 4-5-1 looked designed to attack City down the flanks. Josko Gvardiol is not a left-back, so I’d expect to see Elanga run at and in behind him, with Morgan Gibbs-White looking to support Chris Wood. The question, though, is how much of the ball they’ll get given a midfield four likely to be strung out across the pitch.
Arsenal hang on, beating Spurs 3-2, and now top the table by four points. City, though they have two games in hand, now trail by nine in goal difference.
Email! “Good morning from Pittsburgh!” begins Eric Petersen. “Going out on a limb here, but I don’t think Nottingham Forest’s blowout loss in this one will be because of VAR. On the whole Mark Clattenburg soap opera, I’m surprised that Uefa or even Fifa hasn’t weighed in yet. It’s one thing to question the integrity of the game, yet another for a club official to do so, but Clattenburg is a one-time internationally accredited referee endorsing such allegations via his compensated employment at that club. Inexplicable and unforgivable. I’d suggest consideration of a lifetime ban from the game.”
I think that’s harsh, we’ve all said stupid stuff before. But I agree it’s very odd behaviour, and Forest’s tweet of last Sunday was a total embarrassment.
Three extremely poor decisions - three penalties not given - which we simply cannot accept.
— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) April 21, 2024
We warned the PGMOL that the VAR is a Luton fan before the game but they didn’t change him. Our patience has been tested multiple times.
NFFC will now consider its options.
Son sweeps the penalty into the side-netting and Spurs have three minutes plus added time to try and force the draw that’d surely hand City the title.
Goodness me, having handed Spurs a first goal – David Raya passed the ball straight to Cristian Romero – Declan Rice has now hoofed Ben Davies just inside the box, and Spurs have a chance to close to 3-2!
As for City, Pep Guardiola refreshes a little, Jeremy Doku and Jack Grealish coming in for Phil Foden and Matteo Kovacic. Foden isn’t in the squad as he’s ill, while Kovacic retreats to the bench. Erling Haaland is also on the bench, back from injury.
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Back to the teams, Nuno Espírito Santo makes two changes to the side that lost at Everton, Nicolás Domínguez and Gio Reyna dropping out – the firmer must be injured – with Anthony Elanga and the fit-again Wily Boly coming in.
There’s been a livener at Spurs…
An actual post from a FB ⚽️ Group pic.twitter.com/ogLxrnFPXo
— Don Williams (@Don_K_Williams) April 27, 2024
Teams!
Nottingham Forest (5-4-1-): Sels; Williams, Niahkhaté, Boly, Murillo, Aina; Elanga, Danilo, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Wood. Subs: Turner, Sangaré, Toffolo, Reyna, Yates, Origi, Montiel, Omobamidele, Ribeiro.
Manchester City (4-3-3): Ederson; Walker, Akanji, Ake, Gvardiol; Rodrigo, Bernardo, De Bruyne; Doku, Álvarez, Grealish. Subs: Ortega Moreno, Carson, Stones, Kovacic, Haaland, Gomez, Nunes, Bobb, Lewis.
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Preamble
It’d probably be good manners to wait for the North London derby to finish prior to preambling here, but that’s not really possible given the timings nor does it feel altogether necessary given Tottenham and the general course of dealing. Because, like all great champions, Manchester City are phenomenal at doing whatever it takes to earn one point more than whichever challenger fancies depriving them of the title, their unshakeable confidence inspired by a manager whose style of play is the hardest to beat in football history.
Forest, though, are – despite their lowly position – no pushovers. Backed by a raucous crowd desperate to help them stay up, their muscular speed and invention, especially on the counter, can be a threat to City – if they can keep the back door shut.
If. Just a week ago, Forest conceded twice to Everton, an achievement not easily accomplished, while City have hit devastating form with their usual mortifying ease and inevitability. Since drawing 0-0 with Arsenal, they’ve scored four against Villa, four against Palace, five against Luton and four at Brighton or, put another way, Forest are in trouble. But they have the tools to extricate themselves from it and if they can, the title race and relegation battle will look very different tonight. Even if they can’t, though, this should be a decent afternoon’s intensity, so let’s wade right in.
Kick-off: 4.30pm BST
