Manchester City recovered from their downward spiral with a solid 3-0 victory over Nottingham Forest.
Bernardo Silva, a resurgent Kevin De Bruyne, and Jeremy Doku scored to help the champions win after suffering six defeats in seven games in all competitions.
City’s title aspirations may be dead after four Premier League losses, but they outperformed Nuno Espirito Santo’s team.
De Bruyne was important as he returned to the starting lineup for the first time since September, and with Jack Grealish relishing a more central role, City went straight on the front foot and went near when Erling Haaland forced Matz Sels to save a De Bruyne cutback.
After only eight minutes, Ilkay Gundogan floated a pass that De Bruyne powerfully headed in. It was bound into the bottom corner, but Bernardo Silva made the finishing touch from close range. Josko Gvardiol should have added a second shortly after, but he headed wide from a cross by the energetic Bernardo Silva.
It was the beginning of an eventful few minutes for Gvardiol, who had made some costly mistakes in his most previous outings.
He was again at fault when he was dispossessed by Jota Silva, but goalkeeper Stefan Ortega, who was picked over Ederson for the second game in a row, saved Morgan Gibbs-White’s subsequent chance.
Gvardiol, who had been given permission to move forward, then squandered another opportunity at the opposite end when he pulled a shot wide after being set up by Haaland.
City averted another scare on the half-hour mark when De Bruyne’s underhit pass was intercepted by Chris Wood.
The in-form New Zealander appeared to be on his way to a goal, but he missed. Doku breezed past Ryan Yates to set up De Bruyne, who selected his place and smashed home.
With Guardiola trying to excite the crowd, it was evident that City wanted more, but Forest completed the first half stronger, with Anthony Elanga and Nikola Milenkovic both having good chances.
However, they failed to capitalize, and Doku put the game out of reach in the 57th minute, racing onto a Haaland ball and cutting inside to strike past Sels from just inside the area.
De Bruyne could have added another when he curled a free kick narrowly wide. Elliot Anderson gave Ortega a chance to save late on, but there was no replay of last week’s Feyenoord defeat, as City finished the game in a manner traditionally taken for granted.
