Early collapse at the City Ground
The visitors were left stunned after conceding two quickfire goals. Jair Cunha and former City striker Liam Delap put Forest firmly in control inside 18 minutes, immediately derailing City's game plan. Rayan Cherki pulled a goal back with a fine strike after the break, giving Maresca's side a brief lifeline.
However, Delap struck again on a swift counter-attack to seal the points for Oliver Glasner's side. The result leaves City trailing reigning champions Arsenal by six points. It marks a stark contrast to their flawless start to the campaign, where they won their opening seven fixtures before stumbling against Aston Villa, Brighton, and now Forest.
Maresca pleads for perspective
Maresca urged his squad to avoid panic despite their sudden drop in form. "I'm always concerned, even when we win games," Maresca said. "We need to have balance. We won seven in a row. Now we have lost three in a row, so we need balance on that."
Looking ahead to the domestic pause, the Italian manager stressed the importance of reflection. "During the international break, try to understand what we can do better, and try to start again after the international break," he added. "In the same way we have done the first one, we're going to use this international break to try to clarify what we can do better. We know we do some things better, and also we know we need to improve things. So we are going to use that and try to understand how we can avoid these kind of games."
The City boss also explained the half-time withdrawals of Marc Guehi and Josko Gvardiol. "Both injury, both asked for a change," he revealed. "Marc Guehi an injury. Josko Gvardiol had some issue already during the week, so it was just because they had problems."
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Delap delivers for Glasner
For Forest, the victory relieves mounting pressure. Glasner's tenure had yielded just one win in nine matches, while club-record signing Delap had managed only a single goal since arriving from Chelsea.
The Austrian manager praised his striker's match-winning double but insisted there is room for growth. "It's now for Liam to keep working, getting into his best shape," Glasner said. "Let's say getting back to the Liam Delap he has been at Ipswich, and then even of course improving his game and he has still a lot to improve.
"Definitely not his finishing with left and right, but he has to improve his heading, he has to improve his movements in the box. He has to improve his understanding what we're doing out of possession. But, also very honestly, he did very well."
Glasner also joked about his touchline sprint to celebrate Delap's second goal. "Of course, I can't demand from the players they have to outrun the opposition, and I run less than the opposite manager. So I think I had to follow," he noted. "I just was told they were running six or seven kilometres more than City today, and that means I had to run more than Enzo Maresca as well, and I did my job. It was funny for me."
International break reset
The impending international break arrives at a crucial time for Maresca's stuttering squad. City must use the fortnight to regroup, assess the fitness of Guehi and Gvardiol, and find solutions to their sudden defensive vulnerabilities.
When club football returns, they will face immense pressure to close the six-point gap on Arsenal and halt their losing momentum before their title challenge suffers permanent damage. Forest, meanwhile, will hope this landmark victory serves as a catalyst for climbing the table.