Manchester City rarely have to resort to winning ugly but against a fired-up Nottingham Forest side who played like the world was against them, they had little other option.
And they got the three points they ultimately came for thanks to their ever-reliable duo of Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland, with some help from Josko Gvardiol.
Forest came out all guns blazing in their first home game since their social media posts sent jaws dropping across English football and put City under real pressure throughout the first half.
City struggled to cope but were let off by some poor decision making from their hosts in the final third and got themselves in front with a header from Josko Gvardiol, who got his third goal of the month, from a fine corner delivery from De Bruyne.
Chris Wood and Murillo missed glaring chances to equalise before the break and Forest continued to cause City problems in the second half. But then Haaland came off the bench after missing the trip to Brighton and did what he does best, latching on to a De Bruyne pass and firing into the bottom corner.
Despite the pressure from Arsenal, City are where they want to be, safe in the knowledge that they will win a fourth Premier League title in a row if they win their remaining games. And after proving they know how to win even when they are nowhere near their best, only a fool would bet against them doing just that.
GOAL rates Man City's players from the City Ground...
