Manchester City slumped to a third straight Premier League defeat as their former striker Liam Delap scored twice in a surprise 3-1 success for Nottingham Forest. 

Delap scored with a powerful finish in either half, after Jair Cunha's first goal for Forest had ended their run of four home Premier League games without finding the net.

Rayan Cherki's thunderbolt had given City hope early in the second half, but Delap's second goal sent Forest head coach Oliver Glasner sprinting down the touchline in celebration and made the points safe. 

While the result lifts Forest to 16th in the table and drops Manchester United into the relegation zone, City will spend the international break six points behind leaders Arsenal.

After Glasner's damning assessment of their form last week, Forest looked like they had a point to prove, and their furious start left City shell shocked.

Cunha showed his forwards how to finish in the sixth minute, stepping up to dispossess Josko Gvardiol, ignoring the red shirts up in support, and calmly slotting past Gianluigi Donnarumma on his left foot.

And once again, City's midfield was nowhere to be seen when the hosts doubled their advantage in the 18th minute. Xaver Schlager started the attack by flicking the ball away from Elliot Anderson, but Delap still had plenty to do as he advanced from inside his own half and lashed home, with Marc Guehi not getting tight enough.

2 - Liam Delap's goal for Nottingham Forest (18th min) makes it the earliest Manchester City have been two goals behind in a Premier League game since November 2019 against Liverpool (13th min). Shocked. https://t.co/my8jjWqVIl

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 7, 2026

Another of City's academy graduates could have rubbed further salt in their wounds shortly afterwards, as James McAtee's strike rose high over the crossbar, while the visitors' best chances of the first half were spurned by Enzo Fernandez and Erling Haaland.

Enzo Maresca reacted by replacing Guehi and Gvardiol with Matheus Nunes and Nico O'Reilly at the break, and City had a lifeline when Cherki thumped a wonderful half-volley past Matz Sels in the 52nd minute.

Haaland curled just past the top-right corner as City pushed for an equaliser, though they remained open at the other end, with Ryan Yates' attempt taking a huge deflection off Anderson and bouncing off the top of the crossbar.

The woodwork would not come to Donnarumma's aid in the 73rd minute, though, as Delap fired off the far post and in to cap another clinical counter-attack, having exchanged passes with Morgan Gibbs-White.

1986 - This result means Manchester United will end a day in the bottom three of the top-flight after having played at least nine games for the first time since November 1986 (21st after 15 games). Drop. https://t.co/Y6fq4ugvE2

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 7, 2026

Delap's delight as City lose again

Though City were coming off a pair of defeats to Aston Villa and Brighton, they were heavy favourites against a Forest side who were still goalless on their own turf under Glasner – they were at risk of becoming just the fourth team in English top-flight history to fail to score in their first five home matches of a campaign.

However, City were completely outmatched in midfield as Forest stormed into a two-goal lead within 18 minutes.

It was the earliest City had gone 2-0 down in a Premier League match since November 2019, when they went two goals behind after 13 minutes against Liverpool, and the earliest Forest had been two to the good in a home Premier League game since May 1999 against Sheffield Wednesday.

And while it was another game City's supporters will want to forget, it was a memorable one for Delap as he scored just his second Premier League brace, having previously netted twice for Ipswich Town against Aston Villa in September 2024.

Delap is just the second player to score twice in a Premier League match against City after previously representing them in the competition, after Nicolas Anelka with Bolton Wanderers in December 2006.

It was the first instance of City conceding three goals against a team starting the day inside the Premier League's relegation zone since September 2019 (2-3 versus Norwich City), while they are just the second team in English top-flight history to open a season with seven straight wins before losing their next three games, after Sheffield Wednesday in 1904-05.

If there was a silver lining for City's travelling fans, it was that their cross-city rivals Man Utd dropped into the relegation zone, the first time they have been there at least nine games into a season since September 1986, at the start of Alex Ferguson's reign.