On the day Nottingham Forest paid tribute to the man Brian Clough called ‘Picasso’, Manchester City’s French artist Rayan Cherki produced a masterpiece worthy of Matisse or Monet.
John Robertson, Forest’s double European Cup winner who passed away on Christmas Day, was described in those terms by Clough, and he would surely have appreciated Cherki’s decisive contribution here.
Earlier this week Pep Guardiola had focused on the weight of his Manchester City players, it was beginning to look as though they had missed a chance to tilt the scales of this title race in their favour.
Yet Cherki’s late strike, following his assist for the opener, gave them all three points and immediately threw down a challenge to Arsenal, who kicked off against Brighton at 3pm. Given the Gunners previous wobbles when the title has been on the line, Guardiola and City understand how important it is to keep the pressure on their main rivals.
Cherki was known to Europe’s top clubs long before he became Lyon’s youngest debutant in October 2019, aged just 16. Karim Benzema, Alexandre Lacazette and Bradley Barcola are among the graduates from their superb academy and yet many felt Cherki would be the best of the lot. Thierry Henry has said he has never seen a player who dribbles as well as Cherki.
Yet the road to the top was not always smooth. Concerns about Cherki’s personality – always refuted by the player himself – were said to have stopped elite clubs moving for him sooner. Perhaps it was subtler than that, too. A flair player with a love of the unpredictable, many suspected Cherki might be a player out of time. Would he adapt to the ultra-tactical football that has dominated recent seasons?
Rayan Cherki scored a superb late winner to earn Man City victory over Nottingham Forest
The Frenchman fired into the bottom corner to earn a 2-1 victory to send Man City top
Pep Guardiola celebrated after seeing his side come through a tough clash against Forest
In the last 12 to 18 months, though, the pendulum has swung back towards those players who can unlock the door with a moment of genius. That is Cherki to a tee, and his work delighted Guardiola, even though it was a victory City barely deserved.
After Cherki had created the opener for Tijjani Reijnders early in the second half, Omari Hutchinson scored a fine equaliser for Forest. Yet with seven minutes remaining, Cherki’s clean hit flew through several players and crept through the grasp of John Victor, whose vision was obscured by Morgan Gibbs-White. It left Forest still looking over their shoulders at the wrong end of the table.
Forest boss Sean Dyche has now lost 15 of his 17 encounters against Guardiola and with last season’s top scorer Chris Wood facing more time on the sidelines, there is plenty of work to do in January both on and off the pitch.
In ominous form coming into this game, it was no surprise to see Pep Guardiola pick the same starting XI that swept aside West Ham before Christmas. Everyone had, it seemed, heeded their manager’s warning against over-indulgence during the holiday season.
In the first half, his team struggled to solve the puzzle set by Dyche. Forest centre-backs Nikola Milenkovic and Murillo produced some excellent challenges and blocks, with one sliding tackle from Milenkovic timed perfectly to stop Erling Haaland’s shot at source.
Yet City were not having things all their own way. As well as struggling to create clear chances, they had their work cut out when Forest did manage to spring forward. In the seventh minute, Callum Hudson-Odoi’s tantalising cross from the left just eluded Igor Jesus and Gibbs-White.
In the absence of Chris Wood, who faces a longer spell out after having surgery, Igor Jesus has carried the load for Forest in attack. Less than an hour before kick-off, Wood posted a picture of himself on Instagram sitting in a hospital bed, which seem to catch the club on the hop.
Luckily Jesus has looked right at home and he rattled City centre-backs Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol. Gvardiol was lucky not to be booked for dragging Jesus back and then Dias was cautioned for hauling him down soon afterwards.
Tijjani Reijnders had opened the scoring for Man City after being played through by Cherki
Reijnders finish followed a strong start to the second half by Man City at the City Ground
Man City’s lead proved short lived with Omari Hutchinson equalising for the hosts
Hutchinson levelled six minutes later with his first goal for Forest after his summer move
Cherki’s late strike earned Manchester City their eighth straight win in all competitions
Just after half-time, Dias was perhaps lucky not to be shown a second yellow when he tripped Jesus close to the penalty area, with referee Robert Jones deeming the challenge accidental. Less than two minutes later, City were in front.
For only the second time in the match, Cherki found space inside after drifting off the flank. With Milenkovic playing Tijjani Reijnders onside, the Dutchman was able to glide into the box and finish low with his left foot.
Next Cherki raced at the Forest defence, ducking outside and taking aim with his right foot. Goalkeeper John Victor, preferred to the fit-again Matz Sels, did well to push it against the post.
That was the cue for Forest to deliver the best move of the match, and it yielded the equaliser. Gibbs-White pickpocketed Reijnders and danced forward, swapping passes with Hudson-Odoi before finding Jesus with a disguised ball. Jesus’s ball to the far post was perfect and Hutchinson made a crisp connection from close range.
Forest kept coming. Gianluigi Donnarumma failed to hold a routine effort from Neco Williams only for Nicolo Savona to fire the loose ball high and wide. Haaland has been decisive so often for City yet with a little less than 20 minutes remaining, he put a difficult volley into the City fans. Moments later, Foden did hit the target after a swift exchange with Bernardo Silva and John Victor bailed Forest out with a sharp stop.
Both sides were tiring now and when City failed to deal with another ball into their box, Milenkovic’s first-time effort was deflected wide.
Then came Cherki’s winner, given by referee Robert Jones despite Forest protesting that Nico O’Reilly had fouled Gibbs-White, forcing him to block the path of his keeper. City didn’t care and now have won eight in a row. A warning to Mikel Arteta and Arsenal: City are going nowhere.
