Nottingham Forest was injured in the match against Man City

Nottingham Forest defender Nuno Tavares was forced to suffer an injury during the Red Devils’ Premier League match against Manchester City.

The Portuguese left-back went down just before half-time at the Etihad Stadium and was unable to continue. He was replaced by Gonzalo Montiel.

Tavares arrived at the City Ground this summer on a season-long loan deal from Arsenal. The 23-year-old made his third appearance for the Red Devils before being sent off in the match in Manchester. Steve Cooper’s side led City 2-0 at half-time after goals from Phil Foden and Erling Haaland kept Pep Guardiola’s side in control as they looked to keep their winning streak at 100 % in the Premier League this season.

However, the home team was reduced to 10 people at the beginning of the second half, after Rodri was sent off following a collision with Morgan Gibbs-White.

Forest’s next game will be on Sunday 1 October against Brentford at the City Ground (kick-off:
2 p.m.) with Tavares now a serious injury doubt in the match.

FIND OUT MORE

Nottingham Forest must have regretted not enjoying a positive second half as a 2-0 defeat to Manchester City left head coach Steve Cooper with mixed emotions.

The Welsh player admitted that such opportunities do not appear often at the Etihad Stadium. And it’s a bit regretful that the Red Devils couldn’t overcome the Premier League champions.

Forest had to work hard as they were two goals up after 15 minutes, Phil Foden and Erling Haaland beating Matt Turner. But they had a better time just before the break, then picked up where they left off after the break.

City were reduced to 10 men early in the second half when Rodri was sent off for a tackle with Morgan Gibbs-White. Cooper’s team pulled away from their opponents after that, but they were unable to capitalize on some positive moments. “Needless to say, it was a very bad start in terms of the number of goals we conceded,” Cooper said. “We know the level of the challenge, preparing and playing against Man City at the Etihad – it doesn’t get any more difficult.

“But if you look at Man City’s goals, they were of high quality, but they were very typical Man City goals in terms of style, passing and running from first (Kyle) Walker and pulling back to the far post for Haaland. Monday. We predicted this. We know it’s a recurring tactic they’ve used, along with all the other cool things they can do in a game.

“But for it to happen as easily as we did is disappointing. If they want to do it and score, I want it to be really difficult. But that is not the case.

“The match could then go either way. We can give in and go into our shells or we can stand up and be counted.

“We had to change a bit tactically in the midfield and fit into their formation. The game has been resolved. Of course they have the ball and the territory – they do that every time they play here. But we blocked Matt’s real threat to goal.

“The challenge at half-time was to understand the tactics we were using and continue to believe we could get back into the game. The game changed with the red card but that doesn’t necessarily mean the tempo of the game had to change too much. You see 10-man teams continue to play well.

“So the fact that we had the second half, when the game was in Man City’s half and we