Forest’s 3-0 success was not without alarm but their joint-biggest win of the season, which included an ninth clean sheet, leaves them six points behind league leaders Liverpool, whom they host next week.

The visitors had goalkeeper Matz Sels to thank in the first half and the clinical nature of their performance saw them score with each of their three shots on target.

“It feels good. We work very hard to achieve what we have,” Nuno told SkySports. “Today was a tough game. Wolves had chances and Matz Sels was amazing to keep us in the game. I’m really proud of the work ethic of the players and the desire to go in front and score.

“It’s a very tough competition. We are always going to face tough opponents. We need to stay humble. We haven’t achieved anything yet, we need to work until the end and this can lead us to good moments.”

The Portuguese coach said he was keeping his feet firmly on the ground despite his side’s form that has seen them claim 40 points from 20 games, matching Leicester City’s haul at the same stage of the 2015/16 season when they became shock Premier League winners.

“My ambition is always the same,” he said. “As coaching staff we have this natural ambition of improving the players, this is what we are obsessed with.

“If we improve the players than the team will improve and if the team improves than the club will improve and the city will be happy.”

Nuno believes the confidence of his players will be high going into their home clash with Liverpool in the Premier League on Jan. 14.

“The performance and the results help with confidence -– you saw Callum Hudson-Odoi and Anthony Elanga today, they were confident and creating many problems (for Wolves),” he said.

“This is what we want to see from our players, to feel good on the pitch and to work hard. But before Liverpool we have Luton Town (on Saturday) and we have to think about the FA Cup.”

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Southampton 1-5 Chelsea

Chelsea moved seven points behind leaders Liverpool following their comfortable 5-1 victory over Southampton at St. Mary’s Stadium.

Goals from Axel Disasi, Christopher Nkunku, Noni Madueke, Cole Palmer and Jadon Sancho cancelled out Joe Aribo’s 11th minute goal as the Blues held on for the win.

The win takes Chelsea up to second place on the log with 28 points from 14 games, while Southampton remain at the bottom of the table with five points from 14 matches.

Newcastle United 3-3 Liverpool

Newcastle United came from behind to secure a dramatic 3-3 draw against log leaders Liverpool at St. James’ Park.

Goals from Alexander Isak, Anthony Gordon and Fabian Schär cancelled out goals from a brace by Mohammed Salah and a goal from Curtis Jones.

The win saw Liverpool remain at the top of the league table with 35 points from 14 games, while Newcastle are placed 10th with 20 points from 14 matches.

Manchester City 3-0 Nottingham Forest

Manchester City snapped their seven-game winless run following their comfortable 3-0 victory over Nottingham Forest at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester.

The Citizens walked away with all three points thanks to goals from Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne and Jeremy Doku.

The win sees Man City move into the top four with 26 points after 14 games, while Forest are placed sixth on the table with 22 points from 14 matches.

Arsenal 2-0 Manchester United

Arsenal moved within seven points of leaders Liverpool after they secured a 2-0 victory over Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium.

The Gunners secure the win and all three points through defenders Jurriën Timber and William Saliba in London.

Despite the win, Arsenal dropped down to third place on the log with 28 points, while Man Utd dropped to 11th place on 19 points from 14 matches.

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After a deft pass from Cole Palmer in the eighth minute, Mykhailo Mudryk swept home to give Chelsea the lead through their opening assault.

However, in the 74th minute, former Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-Odoi gave Forest the lead with a beautiful goal from 15 yards after Willy Boly had levelled the score.

After a thrilling match, Nicolas Jackson scored the game’s winning goal in the 82nd minute, with Raheem Sterling making the score 2-2.

Following Luton’s loss to West Ham earlier on Saturday, Forest needed just one point to guarantee a Premier League season for the third time in a row.

With one more game remaining, Nuno Espirito Santo’s team leads 18th-place Luton by three points with 29 points from 37 games.

But Forest also have a better goal differential; Luton needs a 12-goal swing to stay in the game.

On the last day, May 19, the Reds play demoted Burnley while Luton hosts Fulham.

Photo by Backpagepix

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Bruno Fernandes’ free kick was headed in by the Brazilian, but it wasn’t officially declared as goal until after a protracted Video Assistant Referee (VAR) review for potential offside during the build-up.

As under-pressure current manager Erik ten Hag maintained his sole remaining opportunity of capping his second season with a trophy, Sir Alex Ferguson sat next to new United director Sir Dave Brailsford on the pitch where he famously won an FA Cup third-round tie to save his own job in 1990.

The visitors prevailed in a match that did seem headed for extra time, but they also missed several good chances to end the contest.

In an attempt to advance to the round of eight for just the second time since 1996, Forest just seldom found the net. United custodian Andre Onana turned away good chances from Taiwo Awoniyi and Divock Origi.

In the end, Casemiro’s fifth goal of the year proved to be sufficient to get them through.

However, without Harry Maguire due to a possible knee injury, United will need to do much better on Sunday when they go to Manchester City, who defeated them in the FA Cup final the previous year.

Photo by Manchester United Twitter page

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When Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka scored goals in the second half, it was the Gunners’ turn to take a two-goal lead.

That being said, Mikel Arteta’s team had 74% of the ball and 19 shots at goal at the City Ground, but Forest made it exciting by scoring a goal in the 89th minute through a substitute.

But Arsenal held on to make it two wins in a row and move into second place, one point behind leaders Liverpool. The Reds have a game in hand over Arsenal, as they host Chelsea on Wednesday.

At the same time, Forest’s fears of going down to the Championship grew as Nuno Espirito Santo’s team moved closer to the bottom two spots.

Photo by EPA/PETER POWELL

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With goals from Phil Foden and Erling Haaland, City appeared to be in control at halftime. However, the tide turned dramatically in just 27 seconds.

VAR upheld referee Anthony Taylor’s decision to give Rodri a red card for violent conduct after he put his hands around Morgan Gibbs-White’s throat during a scuffle near the corner flag.

Up until that point, Forest had been thoroughly outplayed by City, who had scored twice in the first 15 minutes by cutting through the Forest defence with dazzling attacks down the right flank.

Foden opened the scoring for City with a fine first-time finish after being set up by Kyle Walker. Later, Haaland scored off a Matheus Nunes cross from the same flank.

However, things changed in the second half, and City had to hunker down to protect their lead, which they did for the most part by keeping Forest at bay.

Orel Mangala scooped a shot over, Taiwo Awoniyi missed from close range, and Ederson stopped Anthony Elanga late on as the visitors’ best chances remained slim.

City manager Pep Guardiola and the home fans continued to vent their frustration with Taylor’s calls in the final minutes, but City held on to make it six wins in a row.

The top four teams all have games on Sunday, but the defending champions already have a five-point lead.

Rodri, a 27-year-old Spain international who has been a mainstay in City’s midfield for the better part of the past four seasons, received his first red card in the Premier League for an act of madness that was completely out of character.

After they collided, Gibbs-White waited before throwing himself to the ground in a dramatic fashion, but Rodri deserved what he got for raising his hands and grabbing him by the neck.

His sending off not only made things more difficult for City on the day, but also for their upcoming matches against Wolves, Arsenal, and Brighton.

His absence will be felt most when playing the Gunners, who gave City a run for the title last year.

Ederson lost his temper and butted heads with Awoniyi after they collided in the box, so City had more than one player lose it against Forest.

Even though City looked to have wrapped up the game early on, the atmosphere inside the Etihad remained tense as Guardiola appeared to be upset with any decision that went against City in the second half.

Before Foden’s goal, Forest had not even put together a pass, and they continued to see very little of the ball for the rest of the first half.

They were given a glimmer of hope by Rodri’s dismissal, but they still struggled to put any real pressure on City despite having an extra man.

Forest’s reluctance to take risks with the ball was understandable given the danger City still posed on the break, but it prevented them from mounting a serious comeback.

They only started pushing men forward in the final minutes, and even then, their best chances came from long range.

After finding some space on the edge of the area, Elanga tried to cut into the deficit with a low, angled first-time shot, but Ederson was up to the task.

Photo by EPA/ADAM VAUGHAN

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🇿🇦 LYLE FOSTER SENT OFF 🟥

Night to forget for the South African striker who is shown a straight red card ❌

Final score: NFO 1-1 BUR#NFOBUR pic.twitter.com/g0Br70hL6b

— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) September 18, 2023

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The 21-year-old England forward added to Eddie Nketiah’s goal in the 26th minute with a curling shot from outside the area that went into the top left corner of the Forest goal, out of reach of former Gunners keeper Matt Turner.

But Forest made a late push after substitute Taiwo Awoniyi scored a goal in the 83rd minute. This meant that the team that finished second in the Premier League last year had to hold on.

The game was 30 minutes late because of a problem with the e-ticketing system. When the game was supposed to start at 14:30, most of the fans were still outside Emirates Stadium.

When the game finally started, Nottingham Forest’s Brennan Johnson had the first clear chance when he was put through on goal against Aaron Ramsdale. However, when the Arsenal goalkeeper rushed off his line, the Wales forward lofted his shot high and wide.

Forests didn’t have many chances for the rest of the game until Awoniyi helped the away team get going and set up a tense finish.

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Lingard joined Forest after their promotion to the Premier League last season, but he was ineffective at the City Ground.

The 30-year-old rejected West Ham, where he performed well while on loan from United in 2021, to sign a lucrative one-year deal with Forest.

Lingard played only 20 times for Forest across all competitions and was one of 12 players released by manager Steve Cooper on Friday.

He only appeared four times in 2023 and is now seeking his third club in three years.

In recent weeks, a number of foreign clubs have been linked to Lingard, who was touted as a future star after graduating from United’s youth academy.

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Just three days after surrendering the top spot to City with a 3-1 loss, Arsenal responded in impressive fashion to move two points ahead of the champions.

With only minutes remaining at Villa Park, Mikel Arteta’s squad risked losing their bid to win the championship for the first time since 2004.

Arsenal trailed twice due to goals scored by Ollie Watkins and Philippe Coutinho, but Bukayo Saka and Oleksandr Zinchenko brought them level.

Emiliano Martinez inadvertently deflected Jorginho’s shot into his own net after it hit the crossbar late in the second half of stoppage time, thereby assisting Arsenal.

Gabriel Martinelli completed Arsenal’s remarkable comeback by tapping the ball into an empty net in the final seconds after Villa’s Javi Martinez was caught upfield during a corner kick.

“We are back with more belief than before because you have to turn performances into results,” Arteta said.

“The team showed a lot of emotional qualities that are needed. I’m really happy.”

Arsenal’s first victory in five games across all competitions will restore their confidence in their ability to beat City to the title.

The Gunners, who have a game in hand over the champions, received a tremendous boost from their title rivals’ misstep just hours later.

Four minutes before halftime, Bernardo Silva gave Pep Guardiola’s side the lead by taking Jack Grealish’s pass in stride and rifling a 20-yard shot past Keylor Navas.

The tension increased as City searched for a second goal, and Guardiola was cautioned for roughing up the fourth official after Erling Haaland’s penalty appeal following Joe Worrall’s challenge was denied.

Photo by EPA/Andrew Yates

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