Nottingham Forest 1-0 Manchester City: Hudson-Odoi boosts hosts´ Champions League hopes

Callum Hudson-Odoi boosted Nottingham Forest’s chances of a top-four finish as he earned a 1-0 win over Manchester City at The City Ground.

There had been little to split the sides before Hudson-Odoi’s late goal, with the winger’s powerful strike beating Ederson at his near post after he had been afforded too much space down the right.

Nico Gonzalez struck the post with a stunning long-range effort in the 14th minute, but that remained one of City’s clearest opportunities on Saturday.

Hudson-Odoi had also seen a low curler tipped onto the post by Ederson, who did well to get down sharply after it had squeezed through the crowd.

Mateo Kovacic could have snatched a point in the dying stages after latching onto Morgan Gibbs-White’s skewed clearance, but he could only bend his shot just wide of the far post.

It was a welcome win for Forest, who ended a run of three games without a win. They remain third, now on 51 points, moving four clear of City, who could drop out of the top four if Chelsea avoid defeat against Leicester City on Sunday.

GET IN!!! pic.twitter.com/DlpoCDq83z

— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) March 8, 2025

Data Debrief: Forest shut up shop

Forest boast one of the best defensive records in the Premier League this season, and it was that base that gave them the opportunity to earn their late win.

They have now won 11 Premier League games this season without conceding a goal, more victories than they managed across their previous two seasons in the competition combined (seven in 2022-23 and three in 2023-24).

In fact, this was their 12th clean sheet of the season in the top-flight; only in 1994-95 (13) have they had more shutouts in a single campaign.

Forest limited City to just three shots on target throughout the match as the visitors fell to a ninth Premier League defeat of the season, their joint-most in a single campaign under Pep Guardiola (also nine in 2019-20).