Forest beat Manchester City 1-0 with late Hudson-Odoi goal
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NOTTINGHAM, England :Nottingham Forest's Callum Hudson-Odoi struck late to give his side a 1-0 home win over Manchester City in the Premier League on Saturday and boost their chances of a top-four finish and prized place in next year's Champions League.
The 24-year-old winger picked up a glorious diagonal pass from Morgan Gibbs-White before running into the box, stepping outside defender Josko Gvardiol and driving the ball between City goalkeeper Ederson and his near post in the 83rd minute.
In a game of few chances, Pep Guardiola's visiting team came closest when Nico Gonzalez's long-range shot scraped the outside of the post in the first half, while Hudson-Odoi saw a curled effort pushed onto the woodwork by Ederson after the break.
"I’m absolutely buzzing with the goal," said Hudson-Odoi after his contribution secured Forest a first league win over Manchester City since 1997.
"We fought every battle, every ball and I’m happy we got the win for the fans. Look at the crowd, they’re amazing," he said as most of the 30,000 fans sang and danced at the final whistle in a sun-bathed City Ground beside the River Trent.
The result kept this season's surprise team Forest in third place on 51 points with 10 games left, putting them in a strong position to secure a spot in Europe's elite competition for the first time since the mid-1990s.
FOREST 'STAYING HUMBLE'
Last year's Premier League champions City are fourth on 47 points, with Chelsea and Newcastle United breathing down their necks on 46 and 44 points respectively before their matches.
Nuno Espirito Santo's Forest players know they are on the verge of something very special in their third season back in the top flight after a more than two-decade absence.
"We know the position we’re in but there are still a lot of games to go until the end of the season," added goalscorer Hudson-Odoi. "It’s about staying humble, driving ourselves and trying to get as many points on the board as possible."
Though Ederson should have done better for the goal, Guardiola was not critical of his team, saying they defended well but lacked precision up front.
"We have 10 games to qualify (for the Champions League), we have to win games to qualify, and we're going to the next one," he said, with City hosting Brighton & Hove Albion next Saturday.
"A tight game, we controlled transitions, we had chances to shoot but were not precise. In the second half there were transitions and in a transition they scored," added the Spaniard, praising Forest's defence and Hudson-Odoi's goal.
(Writing by Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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