Match report
Premier League champions Manchester City kept their fine start to the season alive and kicking on Wednesday night, courtesy of a dominant win over Nottingham Forest.
Pep Guardiola’s troops, of course, were back in action a short time ago.
Aware that they could nary afford dropped points amid their ongoing pursuit of table-topping Arsenal, the Sky Blues welcomed newly-promoted Forest to the Etihad.
And, when all was said and done, keep the pressure on the Gunners is precisely what City went on to do.
An utterly rampant display ultimately culminated in the evening’s hosts emerging on the right side of a 6-0 scoreline.
Erling Haaland proved the undisputed star of the show, notching a first-half hat-trick to take his tally for the Premier League season to an eye-watering nine goals.
And another summer arrival on the blue half of Manchester was also in fine form in front of goal, as Julian Alvarez’s late double added to a gorgeous Joao Cancelo strike early in the 2nd-half, rounding out another fine day’s work for the champions.
Player ratings
Manchester City
Ederson - 6
Kyle Walker - 6.5
John Stones - 7
Ruben Dias - 6.5
Joao Cancelo - 7.5
Rodri - 6.5
Bernardo Silva - 7
Ilkay Gundogan - 7
Julian Alvarez - 9
Phil Foden - 7
Erling Haaland - 9.5
Nottingham Forest
Dean Henderson - 4
Neco Williams - 5.5
Joe Worrall - 4
Cheikhou Kouyaté - 4
Scott McKenna - 5
Renan Lodi - 5
Ryan Yates - 4.5
Remo Freuler - 5
Lewis O’Brien - 5.5
Morgan Gibbs-White - 5
Brennan Johnson - 4
Social media highlights
Read more:
Arsenal targeting £18m midfield deadline day swoop
How much Aston Villa will accept for Arsenal and Liverpool-linked midfielder Douglas Luiz