Manchester City 2-2 Nottingham Forest: Tricky Trees fight back twice to take a point

Manchester City let not one but two leads, and perhaps the Premier League title, slip away on Wednesday as they labored their way to a 2-2 with relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest.

WATCH — Manchester City v Nottingham Forest full match replay

Antoine Semenyo opened the scoring in the 31st minute when he hooked home Rayan Cherki's clever cross through a sea of bodies, seemingly sending City on their way against a Forest side that created very little in the first half. The Tricky Trees weren't much better to start the second half, until Morgan Gibbs-White pulled off a brilliant backheel to beat Gianluigi Donnarumma and tie things up at 1-1. Six minutes later, Man City were back ahead after Rodri powered home a header from Rayan Ait-Nouri's corner kick.

There was still one last twist to come, though, as Elliot Anderson, who could very well find himself wearing City blue next season, curled a beauty into the bottom corner from outside the box after 76 minutes. A pair of sensational goals from Forest, and somehow, defender Murillo might have made the play of the game. A mad scramble erupted inside the six-yard box and Savinho slotted the ball through the muck and mess, but Murillo had fallen back behind and booted the ball clear with the last kick of the game.

The draw leaves Man City (60 points) seven points behind leaders Arsenal with nine games left to play (and a game in hand). The two sides are set to meet in north London on March 22. Nottingham Forest (28 points) remain 17th in the table, but are now level on points 18th-place West Ham after the Hammers beat Fulham on Wednesday. Four goals is all that separates the two sides on either side of the relegation line.

What’s next?

• Newcastle vs Man City — Saturday, 3 pm ET (FA Cup)
• Real Madrid vs Man City — Wednesday, 4 pm ET (UEFA Champions League)
• Nottingham Forest vs Midtjylland — Thursday, March 12, 4 pm ET (Europa League)
• West Ham vs Man City — Saturday, March 14, 4 pm ET (next PL fixture)
• Nottingham Forest vs Fulham — Sunday, March 15, 10 am ET (next PL fixture)

Manchester City vs Nottingham Forest live updates - by Andy Edwards

Manchester City vs Nottingham Forest final score: 2-2

Goalscorers: Antoine Semenyo (31'), Morgan Gibbs-White (56'), Rodri (62'), Elliot Anderson (76')

GOAL! Man City 2-2 Forest: Anderson guides one into the bottom corner (76')

GOAL! Man City 2-1 Forest: Rodri heads home from a corner kick (62')

GOAL! Man City 1-1 Forest: Gibbs-White backheels at the back post (56')

GOAL! Man City 1-0 Forest: Semenyo volleys Cherki’s cross with class (31')

Man City starting XI

Donnarumma - Nunes, Dias, Guehi, Ait-Nouri - Rodri, Silva, Foden - Semenyo, Cherki, Haaland

Nottingham Forest starting XI

Sels - Aina, Cunha, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams - Sangare, Anderson, Dominguez - Gibbs-White, Jesus

How to watch Manchester City vs Nottingham Forest live, stream link and start time

Kick off time:2:30pm ET Wednesday
Venue:Etihad Stadium — Manchester
TV Channel: NBCSN
Streaming: Live online via Peacock

City remain five points back of Arsenal with a match-in-hand and a match to play against the first-place Gunners, but have to keep winning to maintain control of their destiny.

Up next is a Forest side which is still looking for its bump from the firing of Sean Dyche and the hiring of Vitor Pereira, at least in terms of Premier League wins and relief from the bottom three. Forest are two points clear of 18th-place West Ham and eight ahead of 19th-place Burnley with 10 matches left on their league docket. The Europa League last 16 side have lost both of their PL matches under Pereira, 1-0 at home to Liverpool and 2-1 at Brighton and they're winless in five-consecutive league matches under any manager.

Manchester City team news, focus

OUT: Max Alleyne (knock), Josko Gvardiol (ankle), Mateo Kovacic (ankle) | QUESTIONABLE: Erling Haaland (knee), Nico O'Reilly (ankle)

Nottingham Forest team news, focus

OUT: Willy Boly (knee), Stefan Ortega (calf), Nicola Savona (knee), John Victor (knee), Chris Wood (knee)

Manchester City vs Nottingham Forest prediction

We suppose there's a slight chance that City could be looking to a daunting week that includes trips to Newcastle in the FA Cup on Saturday and a visit to Real Madrid for a Champions League last 16 first leg on March 11, but that's really stretching in hopes of an upset, isn't it? Even without Gvardiol and perhaps Haaland and O'Reilly, this should only go one way. Man City 3-0 Nottingham Forest.