Despite a first half display which saw City tally 67% possession, Forest winger Kristian Clarke gave the hosts the lead against the run of play.
Oliver Reiss’ side quickly drew level after just one minute of second-half football. Floyd Samba showcased the clinical edge to his game as he guided home Christian Dunbar-McDonald’s cross.
Forest were reduced to 10 men on 53 minutes when Blaine McClure was shown a second yellow card.
It resulted in the hosts sitting deep and City found it difficult to find a way through.
Forest then caught the Blues by surprise when Jimmy Sinclair’s 30-yard strike nestled into the bottom-left corner with their first chance in the second half.
City fought hard for an equaliser and a deserved point, but the Blues couldn’t quite find a way through Forest as it ended in defeat.
WHAT HAPPENED
City hit the road for the first time in the PL2 in 2026/27 and made the short trip to the East Midlands and the Loughborough University Stadium where we faced Nottingham Forest on a grey Friday evening.
The young blues, donning our new away kit, enjoyed more of the ball in the early exchanges, with Christian Dunbar-McDonald and Tyrone Samba linking up on the left-hand side but only able to create half chances.
Then, to City’s surprise Forest took the lead.
Kristian Clarke fired a right-footed shot across the face of the City goal and into the back of the net on 29 minutes following one of Forest’s longest spells of possession.
A vital block by Leke Drake stopped Forest from doubling their lead just before the break with the hosts looking threatening on the counter.
It meant, City faced an unfamiliar task of chasing the game for the first time this term.
And Reiss’ squad were certainly up to the challenge in the second half as it took less than 60 seconds for the blues to equalise.
Christian Dunbar-McDonald’s low cross from the left was straight into the path of Floyd Samba who guided a first-time finish past Keehan Willows.
 The game continued to quickly spiral out of control for Forest as they were reduced to 10 following a second yellow card to skipper Blaine McClure on 53 minutes.
Floyd Samba’s deflected shot from the right was almost misjudged by Willows as City piled on the pressure as we surpassed the hour mark.
But once again Forest caught Reiss’ side by surprise.
In their first time entering City’s half, full-back Jimmy Sinclair fired a 30-yard shot into the bottom-left corner to see the hosts regain the lead with 16 minutes left to play.
Despite City’s best efforts, Reiss’ side fell to our first defeat of the campaign as Forest held firm to see us fall to a 2-1 defeat.
HOW WE LINED UP
FOREST XI | Willows, Sinclair, Sannah, Modupe, Powell, McClure, Clarke (Clarke 80’), Whitehall, Thompson (Powell 64’), Francis (Smith 80’), Newton (Nwosu 72’)
SUBS | Murray-Jones, Yaya, Djamna.
CITY XI | Chabot, Henderson-Hall, Courtman (Tevenan 81’), Drake, Noble, Fapetu (Gorman 76’), Nfonkeu (Miles 81’), F. Samba, Midwood (X. Parker 74’), T. Samba, Dunbar-McDonald.
SUBS | Hudson, Barrett. Â
AS A RESULT
City drop to just outside the top five with three points after two games.
UP NEXT
In the league, we will welcome our cross-city rivals, Manchester United, to the Joie Stadium on Saturday 12 September.
Kick-off is set for 19:00 (UK), with tickets to be made available on mancity.com and the Official Man City App in due course.
The game will also be available to watch live on CITY+.
