Man City 3-0 Nottingham Forest: Kevin De Bruyne inspires crucial win as City attempt to reignite Premier League title defence

At the Etihad Stadium, regular operations resumed after Manchester City crushed Nottingham Forest 3-0 to end their recent losing streak.

revitalised Despite being pulled out of the starting lineup for last weekend's loss to Liverpool, Kevin De Bruyne was the catalyst for all the positive aspects of City's fluid attacking play, creating the first goal and scoring the second.

Pep Guardiola said, "He played 75 fantastic minutes, I'm so happy he's back," in reference to De Bruyne, who has only made five appearances this season due to injuries.

Ilkay Gundogan, who was under siege, glided into space before dinking a cross towards the Belgian's head, and he skilfully passed the ball to Bernardo Silva for a straightforward tap-in as the home team created the first goal from wide.

If a fired-up City was lacking confidence, it was evident during a stumbling run of four consecutive league losses. After Jeremy Doku ghosted into the area to tee up De Bruyne as he swept past Matz Sels, Chris Wood missed a one-on-one with Stefan Ortega at one end.

After the break, Forest continued to experience some form of pushback.

With three vital points secured, City closed the gap on Premier League leaders Liverpool, who drew 3-3 at Newcastle, to nine points. Erling Haaland drove upfield before putting a wonderfully weighted pass into Doku's path to score his first goal since early October.

"The players and the club needed this. "We had to win," Guardiola said.

Is there still hope for this title race?

Analysis: City breaks out of its rut thanks to De Bruyne's masterclass

De Bruyne's eagerly anticipated comeback to the Manchester City starting lineup did not let anyone down. After the Belgian led his team to their first victory in eight games, Guardiola praised the midfielder's "presence" in midfield in an interview with Amazon Prime.

More than the goal and assist in the first half, De Bruyne appeared to be engaged in every move the Premier League winners made when in control of the ball. When asked why his teammates were looking to him for motivation throughout the game, the 33-year-old responded with his own words. He remarked, "It's been a difficult spell,"

"Perhaps his teammates look to the more experienced players to provide some composure during the game. I managed to accomplish it.

The poise he brought to his team's performance was so noticeable that it even improved Jack Grealish's performance, who was playing a new central role without Phil Foden and was able to capitalise on De Bruyne's inventiveness to make things happen.

His impact is self-evident. With De Bruyne in the starting lineup, City has now gone undefeated in their previous 31 Premier League games (W26 D5). In those games, he has contributed directly to 25 goals (nine goals, 16 assists).

The manager of City, who will be hoping that his star player will continue to alleviate the problems brought on by a dismal November, embraced him as he left the pitch.

Guardiola is happy to end the losing streak.
Pep Guardiola, manager of Man City:

"We won, which makes a difference. That's the distinction. The players and the club needed this. It's only one game, but everyone had to win. The injury issues are still present. For many years, they demonstrate what a fantastic group of players we have. They are excellent players.

"Although there are still certain things we need, breaking this pattern was ultimately the most crucial thing, and we succeeded. We'll see how we handle our win.

"This was better than Bournemouth and Liverpool, but it was pretty much the same as earlier games that we lost. The only thing that changed today was that we prevailed.

Nuno: Nobody questioned City's calibre.
Nuno Espirito Santo, manager of Nottingham Forest:

"There are advantages. Errors are inevitable, but we challenged ourselves and tried. We made an effort to press rather than sit, and we had opportunities.

Internally, I believe we are proud of ourselves since we made an effort and this will help us develop. These guys are hard to manage since they are talented everywhere on the pitch. Nobody questioned the calibre of City's players, I believe.

"To be honest, we went for it even though we knew it would be difficult. Okay, we lose, but in football, that is possible. However, we set a task for ourselves.