Manchester City suffered a third successive Premier League defeat, losing 3-1 to Nottingham Forest in the 10th round. Jair Cunha scored early before Liam Delap struck twice, matching his tally from 41 appearances for Chelsea last season.
Enzo Maresca's side last picked up points in a hard-fought 3-2 win over Ipswich in the seventh round. Since then, a major tactical weakness has undermined the title contenders' results: defensive lapses in the opening stages of matches.
The problems surfaced in a 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa, when another former Chelsea striker, Nicolas Jackson, scored twice. The first came in the sixth minute: Marc Guehi lost possession near the penalty area under pressure from the Senegalese forward, Elliot Anderson failed to cover for his team-mate with a tackle, and Jackson had a clear shot at Gianluigi Donnarumma's goal.
The pattern was repeated in the next round against Brighton, who won 1-0 to avenge their EFL Cup exit. Brighton again took an early lead: the defenders allowed a cross through the six-yard box, Matheus Nunes could not reach the ball and Maxim De Cuyper laid it off for Yasin Ayari, leaving the goalkeeper helpless.
The defensive paralysis reached its peak against Nottingham Forest. In the sixth minute, Jair knocked the ball away from Josko Gvardiol after a goal kick and advanced unchallenged to the edge of the penalty arc. He was left completely unmarked: Guehi and Ruben Dias only reacted as he prepared to shoot, trying to block the effort but arriving too late.
Manchester City have now conceded early goals in three successive matches following serious individual defensive errors. Their inability to focus from the opening whistle and failure to fight back have led to three defeats in a row, with the gap to leaders Arsenal growing to six points.
