City end the year in style with late win at Forest

Rayan Cherki starred as Manchester City claimed a hard-fought 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest.

Having assisted Tijjani Reijnders' opener, Cherki propelled Pep Guardiola's team to victory at the City Ground with a fantastic 83rd-minute strike.

Sean Dyche's team had fought back valiantly after falling behind, with Omari Hutchinson's first Forest goal restoring parity in the 54th minute.

John Victor then denied Phil Foden from close range, but Cherki found a way through to send City, at least temporarily, top of the table.

Man City remain in second place after Arsenal beat Brighton & Hove Albion 2-1, while Forest remain 17th after back-to-back defeats.

How the match unfolded

Forest went close early on when Callum Hudson-Odoi whipped in a delicious cross, with Morgan Gibbs-White just failing to connect, though that was the best chance either team forced during a low-key first half.

That changed less than three minutes into the second period. Cherki brilliantly slipped in Reijnders, who drilled under John Victor.

Soon afterwards, Cherki almost turned from provider to scorer as he squared up Neco Williams and got off a crisp right-footed effort, which John Victor tipped onto the post.

Forest made their goalkeeper's good work count as Gibbs-White fed Igor Jesus, whose excellent centre was expertly steered home by Hutchinson.

Williams tested Gianluigi Donnarumma as Forest pushed to flip the game on its head, with Nicolo Savona slicing over on the rebound, before John Victor pulled off a fine save to thwart Foden at the other end following a slick City move.

Yet there was nothing John Victor could do as Foden’s deep corner was headed down by Josko Gvardiol to Cherki, whose first-time strike arrowed through Gibbs-White's legs and into the back of the Forest net.

Jesus offers Forest plenty of hope despite Wood setback

As his Forest team-mates prepared for this clash, striker Chris Wood – who netted 20 times in the Premier League last term – confirmed he had undergone surgery after suffering another setback in his recovery from a knee injury.

Wood is yet to feature under Dyche, but Jesus has been filling in admirably up top, and the Brazilian turned in another impressive display this time out.

It was his strong hold-up play that led to the only real opening of the first half, with Hudson-Odoi's cross just sailing out of Gibbs-White's reach.

Dyche saw a moment of class undo his defence when Reijnders broke the deadlock, but he will have been thrilled with Forest's response. Jesus was at the heart of it, demonstrating plenty of composure to not only read Gibbs-White's pass, but then clip a cross to the back post, where Hutchinson was waiting to meet it.

For all his tireless work up top, though, Jesus was not really given a chance to threaten Donnarumma's goal, and Dyche will be disappointed that his team then switched off from a defensive set-piece late on.

Ensuring their centre-forward gets a chance to show what he can do in front of goal will be key to Forest keeping clear of danger – they host Dyche's former team Everton on Tuesday.

Pep's Christmas tree works a treat

There are not many attackers in better form than Cherki across Europe right now.

In fact, since the start of November, only Bruno Fernandes and Erling Haaland can boast more Premier League goal involvements than Cherki's eight.

Haaland, chasing his 150th City goal, was kept under lock and key by Forest's defence, but Guardiola possesses quality in abundance, and in the second half, there was plenty of space for Foden and, in particular, Cherki, to do the damage.

That was at least in part due to Guardiola's formation. Sticking with the festive theme, the City boss went with a 4-3-2-1 – more commonly known as the Christmas tree shape – with Foden and Cherki dovetailing as playmakers behind Haaland.

The onus was then on Bernardo Silva and Reijnders to make penetrating runs from deep, and the latter did just that for the first goal. Cherki's reverse pass to find the Dutchman was superb, and the finish did not let the move down.

Having also seen a shot turned against the woodwork, Cherki put the cherry on on the cake with his fabulous finish as Man City nailed a set-piece routine for their winner, and they have now registered six league victories in a row. They face Sunderland next, on New Year's Day.

Guardiola reaction

“[Forest] are an incredible team, the way that they play they do it unbelievably. Igor [Jesus] wins all of the balls. They have a top quality team, This team was in the Champions League but for one or two games last season and now in European competitions. A fantastic team and tough place to come, and at winter time.

“We talked a lot about this in the last few days with the players. Winter time, at Nottingham Forest, you have to be there, there, there. Today if we are not ready then we do not win that game. The mentality was unbelievable, so really pleased again for the guys.”