Manchester City appeared to be in complete control against Nottingham Forest as they established a two-goal lead, with Rodri, the linchpin in midfield, displaying his usual composure.

However, his abrupt eruption of anger led to a red card for violent conduct within just 60 seconds of the second half beginning.

Despite being reduced to ten men for nearly an entire half, City’s victory was never in doubt, thanks to goals from Phil Foden and Erling Haaland. Nonetheless, Pep Guardiola will have to contemplate the consequences of losing Rodri for the next three matches, including an upcoming visit to Arsenal.

As early as the seventh minute, when Foden converted Kyle Walker’s assist, aided by a clever pass from Rodri, Nottingham Forest had barely touched the ball, with one exception being a Matt Turner save from a Julián Álvarez free-kick.

Forest manager Steve Cooper had organized his team with a flat back five in front of four midfielders in an attempt to stifle the hosts’ scoring, but they were far from answering the questions posed by City’s dominance of possession. The buildup to the opening goal featured 46 passes, the second-highest number before a goal in records dating back to 2005.

Despite having ten players behind the ball, Forest’s efforts at resistance were futile. A well-executed combination between Foden and Matheus Nunes allowed the Portuguese player to chip the ball to the back post, where an unmarked Haaland headed home his seventh league goal of the season.

Considering that Forest had three center-backs on the pitch, leaving Haaland unmarked was unforgivable, but the team as a whole struggled to cope with City’s speed and movement. The match between blue and red appeared reminiscent of a Subbuteo game, accentuated by the static nature of the Forest defense.

City remained in control, but when Taiwo Awoniyi broke away and was deemed to be fouled by Manuel Akanji, despite the defender clearly winning the ball, Akanji and his manager were cautioned, the latter for protesting to the officials. Guardiola’s continued berating of the fourth official, Dean Whitestone, reflected his refusal to accept any perceived injustice against his team and may have set the tone on the pitch as well.

After the second goal, there was a sense of complacency within the City ranks, leading to sloppy mistakes that frustrated Guardiola.

To compensate for the lackluster end to the first half, City came out with renewed intensity, especially Rodri, who was soon sent off for an altercation with Morgan Gibbs-White. There was pushing, shoving, and a head-to-head confrontation, ending in mild farce when Gibbs-White fell to the ground after being grabbed around the neck. Anthony Taylor deemed it worthy of a red card, and VAR concurred after a lengthy review.

Forest’s manager, Cooper, believed his team could capitalize on having an extra player, introducing the pace of Callum Hudson-Odoi and Anthony Elanga. City countered by bringing on Nathan Aké, adopting a defensive posture with a back five.

The intensity escalated further as Ederson and Awoniyi clashed inside the penalty area, resulting in yellow cards for both players on this occasion. The stadium had been relatively calm in the first half, but the fans found their voices after the break, spurred on by Guardiola’s calls for noise to support his ten men. Even City’s kitman received applause for delivering a message to Ederson.

Forest’s strategy was straightforward: get the ball out wide and send crosses into the box, which explained the introductions of Divock Origi and Chris Wood.

However, it was City’s own towering striker, Haaland, who had the opportunity to seal the result but volleyed over from an Aké cross when in space. Nevertheless, Forest failed to capitalize on their numerical advantage, only seriously testing Ederson in the 95th minute.