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By HARRY BAMFORTH and TOM COLLOMOSSE AT THE CITY GROUND and JACK GAUGHAN AT THE CITY GROUND Published: 22: 00 AEDT, 8 March 2025 | Updated: 01: 52 AEDT, 9 March 2025 85 View comments Relive Mail Sport's live blog for the latest score, team news and updates as Nottingham Forest welcome Manchester City to the City Ground in the Premier League.   By Harry Bamforth Right, it's time for me to bounce. I know that this feels too soon, but it's an incredibly busy day of Premier League football, isn't it? It has started in incredible fashion as Nottingham Forest took a monster leap toward Champions League football with a win over Manchester City. It wasn't exactly a classic and seemed destined for a stalemate until Callum Hudson-Odoi popped up to crush City hearts. It means that Forest will end the weekend in third and four points clear of Pep Guardiola's side. It's a monster result. Anyway, thank you for joining us on this sunny Saturday lunchtime - I'm sure I will see you over on the 3pm kick-offs blog. See you there! By Harry Bamforth Joleon Lescott, former Man City defender, on TNT Sports: By Harry Bamforth This has become an all too familiar story for Manchester City. That was their ninth Premier League defeat of the season. Yes, you have really read that right. If it wasn't for the fact that everybody around them just seems to stumble, they would have no hope in this top-four race. Every time you think they may have turned a corner, they produce a performance like this. They have 10 games to go in this rancid season that they are having, and it's anyone's guess where they will end up. Personally, I'd be stunned if it was within the top four. .. By Harry Bamforth Callum Hudson-Odoi is becoming something of a matchwinner for Nottingham Forest, isn't he? Whenever Forest need something, this man delivers. He did it at Anfield to hand Liverpool their only loss of the season, and now he has done it against Manchester City. The fact that he was signed for only £3million is actually a joke, that is daylight robbery. Hudson-Odoi is absolutely flying at Forest. By Tom Collomosse At The City Ground By Harry Bamforth Joleon Lescott, former Man City defender, on TNT Sports: By Harry Bamforth Manchester City fans, you may want to avoid this post. Nottingham Forest supporters, however, will want to be lapping this content up. If you have not seen Callum Hudson-Odoi's late winning goal yet, then here you are. The pass from Morgan Gibbs-White in the build-up is absolutely exceptional; I can't get over it. The finish wasn't half bad either, was it? By Harry Bamforth The scenes right now at the City Ground are simply incredible. Not a single fan has headed for the exit yet, they have stayed for a right ol' sing song while the players do a lap of honour. The joy is immeasurable. I have just seen an elderly woman even breaking out some top dance moves. Rolling back the years. 'Freed From Desire' is now being belted out of the speakers, and the crowd are celebrating like they have won a trophy. This is mental. To be fair, they have just taken a monster step toward the Champions League next season. A day to remember. By Harry Bamforth A mammoth win for Nottingham Forest! The City Ground erupts into celebration as Chris Kavanagh blows the full-time whistle I said this was a game that needed a moment of magic to win it and that's exactly what Callum Hudson-Odoi provided. Forest go four points clear of Manchester City in third, how important will that be come the end of the season? By Harry Bamforth That was the moment! Mateo Kovacic almost pulls Manchester City out of the gutter with a stunning volley. The ball drops to him on the edge of the area, and he just wallops it toward the top corner. It's one hell of an effort, but it flashes just wide. By Harry Bamforth Ohhh, that's not very long. .. Manchester City have just four minutes of stoppage time to try and find an equaliser. Can they do it? By Harry Bamforth You can barely hear yourself think inside the City Ground. It has not stopped rocking since the ball hit the back of the net; it's a cauldron of noise. If the scoreline ends like this, the noise when that whistle blows is going to be enormous. By Harry Bamforth The City Ground gives Callum Hudson-Odoi as the goalscorer is replaced by Morato. His goal may have just sent Nottingham Forest four points clear of Manchester City here. Time is running out for the visitors. By Harry Bamforth What a block that is. Nottingham Forest are all over Manchester City now and Chris Wood looks like he is about to net a second in just two minutes. The ball drops to him in the area, he takes a touch, and then pulls the trigger. But Abdukodir Khusanov makes a monstrous block to keep Man City in this game. By Harry Bamforth THE CITY GROUND ERUPTS! It's one hell of a goal as Callum Hudson-Odoi gets in down the right and smashes the ball in at the near post. It's a great finish, but the ball over the top from Morgan-Gibbs-White to find the winger is exceptional. It's not a goal that Ederson will want to watch back either; how he hasn't saved that, I will never know. Take nothing away from Forest, though; that's a huge goal. By Harry Bamforth More substitutions, yippee. .. It seems like a defensive one from Nuno Esprito Santo as Ibrahim Sangare enters the fray. Anthony Elanga is the one who leaves the pitch, meaning Callum Hudson-Odoi switches wings. By Harry Bamforth Kevin De Bruyne takes a step back, runs up. .. and it's straight at Matz Sels. I'm not sure why I got my hopes up that a goal was coming, given how this game has gone. Back to the drawing board! By Harry Bamforth Ooooh, hello. .. Manchester City have a free-kick in Kevin De Bruyne territory just outside the area. It comes courtesy of a silly challenge from Ryan Yates, I mean, what was he thinking? Can De Bruyne punish him> By Harry Bamforth We just aren't going to get a goal, are we? Bot defences are looking so resolute, and the attacks are barely challenging them. It's going to take something special, you feel. By Harry Bamforth Ohhh, now that's a chance for Kevin De Bruyne. The ball drops to the substitute just inside the box and you know what he is going to do as soon as it comes his way. The Belgian wallops it toward the top corner first time, but it flies just over the bar. By Harry Bamforth Ohhhh. .. Phil Foden is not a happy boy. The midfielder sees his number up on the fourth official's board, and his reaction is a little stroppy. I'm not sure why; it's not like he has played well. Foden is replaced by Kevin De Bruyne, while Omar Marmoush is on for Savinho. Meanwhile, Ryan Yates is on for Nicolas Dominguez. By Jack Gaughan At The City Ground By Harry Bamforth That is one hell of a save from Ederson! Callum Hudson-Odoi nearly pulls off his classic move as he cuts inside and lets one go. There are so many bodies in front of Ederson as Hudson-Odoi takes the shot, but he still manages to get a hand on it and push it onto the post. I thought that was the moment, at last. By Harry Bamforth Erm, what is going on? Ruben Dias has obviously had enough of nothing happening and decides to try and go alone. He pops up just outside the area and decides to have a cheeky dribble before letting a shot go. To be fair to him, it's a decent effort, but Matz Sels saves comfortably. By Harry Bamforth Right on cue, Jack. .. Pep Guardiola has indeed turned to the bench and Matheus Nunes is one of the players coming off. The stand-in full-back is replaced by Rico Lewis, while Mateo Kovacic is on for Nico Gonzalez. Let's hope they can spice things up. By Jack Gaughan At The City Ground By Harry Bamforth This has gone back to being a non-event again. I just caught myself yawning, which is never a good sign when you are covering a game. It really is hard doing live updates when there is nothing to even update you all on, except the fact that it's rubbish. By Harry Bamforth Oooooh, now that's a hefty challenge. Morgan Gibbs-White and Matheus Nunes race to try and reach the ball and it's the Forest man that gets there first. Nunes obviously can't stop himself and then wipes out Gibbs-White at some speed. He gets a yellow, but there's not much he could have done about that. By Harry Bamforth Nottingham Forest really are piling on the pressure, which is good news for the neutral as they are making a game of it. They win a corner, which Morgan Gibbs-White gets on the end of, but his header goes miles wide. I have a good feeling about this 45 minutes, it's already better than the last. By Harry Bamforth Nottingham Forest have started pretty well in this second half. My colleague Tom said they would become more adventurous, and that is proving true so far. They are having much, much more of the ball. By Harry Bamforth Oooft, that's one hell of an effort from Nicolas Dominguez. The midfielder somehow manages to fashion a volley toward the near post after getting on the end of a cross. It's a really tight angle and a brilliant volley, and he somehow gets it on target. Dominguez has come out of it in a little worse for wear after landing awkwardly, however. I'm sure he will run that off, though. By Harry Bamforth Mull of Kintyre is back out, so you know what that means. The two teams have had their break and are back out on the turf, ready to go again. I hope this game improves! By Tom Collomosse At The City Ground By Harry Bamforth Joleon Lescott, former Man City defender, on TNT Sports: By Harry Bamforth Me too, Chris. .. me too. That really was a half of football to forget. I can only remember a couple of moments and I only just reported on it. The statistics show that there were seven shots between the sides, but only one of them was actually noteworthy. Other than Nico Gonzalez hitting the post, diddly squart has happened. By Harry Bamforth I was wrong; it was just the two minutes. It's fair to say, I am quite thankful to hear that half-time whistle. That was not the best of 45 minutes. It's been a game of few chances and very much attack versus defence, almost like a training session. Let's hope it livens up after the break. By Harry Bamforth We are going to have two minutes of stoppage time here. It may end up being more after Mathues Nunes takes a while to get back to his feet after a knock, but not much more. By Jack Gaughan At The City Ground By Harry Bamforth My word, we are really being treated now - two shots on target in the space of a minute. The teams have finally decided to have a real go, at last. This time, it's Chris Wood who has a dig after being clipped in behind over the top by Nikola Milenkovic. He goes early and tries to chip Ederson, but the Brazilian reads him like a book. By Harry Bamforth We have had a shot on target, can you believe it? Matz Sels finally has some work to do at last as Jeremy Doku does well to fashion a shot from the edge of the area. It's a decent low drive from Doku, but Sels never looked worried as the ball rolled into his grasp. Better, though. By Harry Bamforth That may just be the worst effort of the lot. .. Morgan Gibbs-White nearly sends the ball for a throw-in as he goes to ping a volley at goal. The finishing in this game has been pretty pants, I have to say. By Harry Bamforth That just sums up how this half has been. Every time there is been a half-chance for either side, it has been wasted. Savinho finds some space down the left and races to the byline, but he then runs out of room, and the ball goes out. You have to make more of that. By Harry Bamforth The International Space Station has another ball coming its way. This time, it's Bernardo Silva who has a crack from distance but balloons it miles over the bar. You always knew that was going over; the midfielder was leaning back like a kicker in rugby. By Harry Bamforth Ooooh, it's getting a little bit nervy at the back for Manchester City. Nottingham Forest hunt them down like dogs before Ederson comes so close to giving the ball away in his own box. That's much better from the hosts. By Harry Bamforth I thought the Six Nations was later? Nico Gonzalez has just turned into a centre to take out Nicolas Dominguez after losing the ball. For some reason, he then moans as the card comes out. I have no idea how he can complain about that. By Harry Bamforth Oh, that's so much better from Manchester City. They finally manage to wriggle their way through the bodies, with Josko Gvardiol setting up Phil Foden. The forward has a pop inside the area, but Noclas Dominguez is there in the way to stop the goal-bound effort. Matz Sels still not needed. .. By Harry Bamforth Tom is right; Nottingham Forest are doing absolutely diddly up top. What they are doing, though, is killing all activity from this game because Manchester City just can't break them down. Tacticians may love watching these types of games, but I don't. By Tom Collomosse At The City Ground By Harry Bamforth We have our first yellow card of the day. It goes to Morgan Gibbs-White, and I bet you can guess who he fouled to get it. That's right, the tricky Jeremy Doku. Doku rinses the midfielder, who can only pull him to the ground. Filthy stuff all around. By Harry Bamforth Oh my goodness, what is that? Nico Gonzalez obviously fancies himself from distance after hitting the post, but he should have quit while he was ahead. The midfielder has a crack just outside of the box on the right, and the ball nearly leaves the stadium. If I were the International Space Station, I would watch out for a football-sized asteroid coming their way. By Harry Bamforth To be honest, this has become the game we all expected. Manchester City are having all the ball, but Nottingham Forest are so compact that they can't break them down. Forest are just waiting to pounce on any mistakes and make a break for it. By Harry Bamforth This game has really got going yet, it has to be said. Other than a couple of City chances, including that Nico Gonzalez zinger, the game is being played in the middle of the park. The best thing about it at the moment are the chants from the away end; they are class. The City fans have just given Yaya Toure a bit of love with a belting song. By Jack Gaughan At The City Ground By Harry Bamforth Ohhhh, Chris Wood, you have to do better there. The striker is in acres of space as Callum Hudson-Odoi finds him with a cross. Usually, you would expect him to bring the ball down and have a pop, but his touch is terrible, and the chance goes begging. In fairness, I think he may have been offside anyway. By Harry Bamforth Oooooft, that is one hell of a hit from Nico Gonzalez. The midfielder takes everybody by surprise when he decides to hammer the ball toward goal from 25 yards. And my word, he really does get a hold of that ball. It moves at some real speed before smashing the outside of the post. That would have been some goal. By Harry Bamforth Manchester City are starting to notch up the pressure a little. The visitors are pinning Nottingham Forest back, and it's Savinho down the right who is having a lot of fun. He dances past several Forest players before clipping in a ball for Erling Haaland. However, the striker doesn't manage to get on the end of it. By Harry Bamforth That's a huge let-off for Chris Wood! The Nottingham Forest man has a real brain fart just outside his own box and allows counterpart Erling Haaland to pinch the ball off him. The striker then pulls the trigger just inside the box, and it flashes just wide of the post. I bet Wood was bricking it for a moment. By Harry Bamforth Ooooohh. .. Anthony Elanga and the whole of the City Ground scream for a penalty, but they've got no chance of getting that. The ball bounces onto the chest of Josko Gvardiol in the penalty area, so that really is a protest in vain. By Harry Bamforth The whole of the City Ground erupts into applause to support former skipper Stuart Pearce. The defender is not very well at the moment, but I bet he appreciates seeing that. A lovely moment. By Harry Bamforth Erm. .. what is Matheus Nunes doing? The midfielder - who is playing right-back - just passes the ball out of play and for a Nottingham Forest corner. It's so bizarre, it's not even like he is under much pressure when he goes to make the pass. Luckily for him, the corner is wasted. By Harry Bamforth My word, the atmosphere is incredible here. I know the City Ground is known for being loud, but the fact that this is a lunchtime kick-off makes it all the more impressive. They haven't stopped singing since before kick-off, and there is a huge roar every time their team picks up the ball. By Harry Bamforth Another reason I love covering Nottingham Forest at home is because of Mull of Kintyre. The fans belt it out with their usual passion with a mosaic displaying the word 'Vamos' with some colour at the Trent End. And as that comes to an end, we are ready to get going! By Harry Bamforth I really do love covering games at the City Ground. The atmosphere is always brilliant and my word does the DJ know how to pick a tune. They are blasting out the bangers as normal, with Insomina currently taking the stage as I type this. It always sets the right tone ahead of a match, even I feel pumped up as the teams come out. And as I say that, here come the players to the backing track of 'Welcome to the Jungle'. Annoyingly, my mood has been ruined a little by the fact that Manchester City are wearing their away kit. It's just not necessary, is it? Why not just wear blue? It's not like it clashes with red. I don't get it. By Harry Bamforth Ola Aina, Nottingham Forest full-back, on TNT Sports: By Harry Bamforth I'm sure the Nottingham Forest fans in those stands are feeling confident. That may sound weird considering their team are about to face Manchester City, but just hear me out. Forest supporters have not seen their side lose at the City Ground since against Newcastle in November. They are on a run of seven matches unbeaten at home, with five of those wins. The two draws happened to be against the top two, Liverpool and Arsenal, as well. So yeah, they will be confident. By Harry Bamforth How are we all feeling? I, for one, am in a great mood. The sun is shining, and we have a very exciting game of footie coming our way. The players are just finishing their warm-ups, but I'm not even sure they were necessary with how sunny it is out there. I'm just glad I haven't seen any players wearing gloves. .. By Jack Gaughan At The City Ground By Harry Bamforth Josko Gvardiol, Man City defender, speaking to Sky Sports: By Harry Bamforth OK, that may just be one of the worst subheadings I have written during my time as Mail's blogman. It's so bad that I want to keep it. .. Basically, Manchester City love facing Nottingham Forest. Well, they have in recent times. The champions have beaten Forest in their last three Premier League meetings without even conceding a goal. Now, do you understand why I put the subheading that I did now? It doesn't seem quite as bad when you know the context behind it, in my opinion, anyway. By Harry Bamforth Now, I bet this not a post you thought you would see, is it? To be honest, I didn't wake up this morning thinking I was going to write it, but here we are. As I write this, TNT Sports are currently showing pundits Peter Crouch and Joe Cole training with Nottingham Forest. I can't lie; there were many moments that made me laugh, but none more so than Crouch's reaction to this ice bath. The game has certainly changed since these two started; that's for sure. By Harry Bamforth Oh, would you look at that! We are at the time of the season when some fans are wearing short sleeves again; you just love to see it. I do love winter footie, but the worst bit about it is how many layers you have to wear in the stands. But now the sun is back, the shades are out, and it's just time for one layer. Well, unless you are the other two blokes in this photo and want to keep some extra layers on. It must be a bit colder than it looks, eh? By Tom Collomosse At The City Ground By Harry Bamforth Nuno Espirito Santo, Nottingham Forest boss, speaking to TNT Sports: On Manchester City: By Harry Bamforth Some would say it's a big afternoon for Morgan Gibbs-White. By some, I mean I would. That's because it is his last chance to convince Thomas Tuchel to select him for England duty next week. Personally, I would have the Nottingham Forest man in my squad, he has been superb all season. He got a little go under interim Three Lions boss Lee Carsley, but he isn't exactly a shoo-in to make the squad. So Gibbs-White really needs to deliver today if he wants a spot in that squad, don't you think? Let's see if he can handle the pressure. By Harry Bamforth Jack Grealish has certainly been in the headlines the past week. The winger was snapped having fun at a social club with some mates before Mail Online shared pictures of him enjoying himself in Newcastle. And even though Pep Guardiola says that he does not judge what players do in their private lives, Grealish has not been given the nod today. To be fair, that may just be because the Englishman has been pretty poor on the pitch this season. Whatever the reason, Grealish does not look a happy bunny, does he? By Harry Bamforth Chris Sutton, It's All Kicking Off! co-host, on BBC Sport: By Harry Bamforth Oh yes, you know what time it is. Nope, it's not time to go and get another cuppa, although that does sound quite good. It's stat pack time. .. Our good friends at Squawka have delivered the goods as they always do, ahead of this lunchtime kick-off. The thing that strikes me is just how many goals Nottingham Forest have scored despite how little they have created. It really is quite impressive. By Harry Bamforth Chris Wood is going through a real sticky patch at the moment. .. I can't believe I am even writing this, but he hasn't scored for two whole Premier League matches. It's a wretched run of form, a real goal drought! Obviously, I think you can all catch the drift that I am indeed taking the mickey. Two games is nothing. In fact, Wood has actually been on a very good run of form, the best of his life. He has been involved in 11 goals in his last nine Premier League games, scoring eight and assisting three. Can he add to that tally today? By Harry Bamforth And in the blue corner. .. Pep Guardiola has made just the two changes to the side that beat Tottenham all that time ago. One of them is Phil Foden, who is brought in to replace Omar Marmoush, who drops to the bench. Meanwhile, Bernardo Silva also comes in as Mateo Kovacic is dropped. By Harry Bamforth Well, I guess the subheading isn't strictly true. However, what I mean is that Nuno Espirito Santo hasn't made a change to the line-up that started their last Premier League game. The Nottingham Forest boss picks the same eleven that managed a stalemate against Arsenal 10 days ago. This is a team that screams counter-attack. By Harry Bamforth Nottingham Forest are not here to mess about, jeez. The players have just arrived, and they look ready to do battle, not a single smile in sight. Going by these pictures, Forest are here to do the business. Anyway, the team news is out in just a moment. Who will be taking to the field? By Tom Collomosse At The City Ground By Harry Bamforth Pep Guardiola, Manchester City boss, speaking to TNT Sports: By Harry Bamforth I can't lie; I still find it strange that we are at this point in the season and Manchester City aren't in the title race. It's just bizarre to me; it's what we've all been accustomed to. Anyway, that doesn't exactly matter because the fact is that they aren't in a title race this year. This time around, Pep Guardiola's men just need to make sure they qualify for the Champions League by finishing in the top four. It's going to be a real dogfight with just how many teams are involved in the battle, but a win today would do wonders for City in their bid to make Europe. If they pick up all three points here today, they will finish the weekend in third, regardless of what happens anywhere else. Now that I have just typed that sentence out, it feels pretty crazy that they're even that high up after the crisis they had in the middle of the season. I mean, they were pretty much being slapped about by every team each week, but somehow, they are in the hunt for Champions League footie. Make it make sense. .. By Harry Bamforth Nuno Espirito Santo, Nottingham Forest boss, speaking on Thursday: By Harry Bamforth Nottingham Forest are in the midst of a little blip at the moment. Look, I think we can all agree that they can be allowed a drop in form after the season they have had. Forest have won just one of their last five Premier League games, but somehow, they still sit third. I know, it's a little bit mental. The results of those around them have meant they could afford to drop some points, but that's not the case anymore. Forest just need to get points on the board again, otherwise, Champions League dreams could begin to fade. Win today, though, and they will be very much alive and kicking in this top-four race. It would take them four points clear of their closest rivals City, but if they lose, they will get leapfrogged. Their FA Cup victory over Ipswich Town would have done a lot to boost the spirits, which is helpful going into a game like this. I mean, did you see the way they celebrated that penalty shootout win? It was nuts Today is a real six-pointer, but this year, it's at the right end of the table. By Harry Bamforth Oh yes, it's that time of the week again! It feels like an age since the last time we were treated to a bit of Premier League footie, doesn't it? Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the FA Cup and the Champions League in midweek, but nothing beats the English top flight, in my opinion. If you are regular readers of this blog, you will know just how much I love covering this league. And this weekend, we have the perfect game to whet the appetite first up as it's third against fourth. In years gone by, you may think of Liverpool vs Manchester United, or Arsenal vs Chelsea when those two positions are put up against each other. Nope, that's not the case this year. Instead, it's Nottingham Forest against the reigning champions, Manchester City, under the beating sun at the City Ground. It really has been a marvellous week of sunshine, and it only continues today. Just look at the stadium in all its glory - it's just gorgeous. Anyway, I think I have been blabbing a little too long now, don't you? Let's get the ball rolling. Just when you cheer Lucy Ward isn't commentating u. ..

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