Manchester City suffer their third consecutive defeat; Maresca criticizes the team's performance after the match.

In a Premier League match that just ended in the 10th round, Manchester City lost 1-3 to Nottingham Forest away from home, suffering a bitter three-game losing streak after winning seven consecutive league games at the start of the season.

Manchester City were on the back foot from the start of the match, and Nottingham Forest built a two-goal lead in the first 20 minutes thanks to two brilliant goals from Jair Cunha and Liam Delap.

After the break, Rayan Scherki scored a stunning half-volley to pull one back for Manchester City, reigniting their hopes of a comeback. However, Nottingham Forest breached their defense again in a high-quality counter-attack, with Delap finishing to complete his brace and completely shatter Manchester City's comeback momentum.

In a post-match interview, Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca gave a very frank critique of the team's poor performance in the first half: "To be blunt, things get really tough in the first half when you can't match the intensity of the game and are completely outmatched in duels."

"It was obvious that we played terribly in the first 45 minutes. We conceded two goals before we tried to react, but it was often too late."

Speaking about the adjustments made in the second half and the third goal conceded, Maresca added: "We started the second half much better, scored a goal quickly, and had chances to score more. But in a transition, we lost the duel again and then conceded the third goal."

Facing a slump with three consecutive losses, Maresca emphasized that the team needs to face the problems squarely and use the international break to rest: "We had a seven-game winning streak before, and now we have three consecutive losses. We need to find a balance. The team will use this break to conduct in-depth reviews, identify areas for improvement, and figure out how to avoid playing like this again."

Image source: Internet/Manchester City official website