Forest fans would have undoubtedly travelled to the Etihad Stadium in hope rather than expectation on Wednesday evening, but a first-half display of dominance from one man in Erling Braut Haaland quickly killed any hopes of a shock result.
The 22-year-old scored his seventh, eighth and ninth Premier League goals before half time to ensure a healthy lead for Pep Guardiola’s side, who added another trio of goals in the second period through Julian Alvarez (2) and a Joao Cancelothunderbolt.
Forest’s significant summer outlay is yet to translate into a consistent string of results, and Steve Cooper’s men are languishing in 15th in the table with four points to their name, but staying clear of the relegation zone can be viewed as a successful start.
Not many bets would have been placed on Forest getting the better of City or Tottenham Hotspur, but Bournemouth are now preparing to visit a ground where West Ham United have already come up short, and defeat to Spurs was the Tricky Trees’ first league defeat at the City Ground in 2022.
Despite being handed one of the most difficult starts to the season against Arsenal, Man City and Liverpool, the Bournemouth board did not hesitate to pull the trigger on Scott Parker, who was not afraid to be critical of his side’s transfer approach last month.
Speculation that Parker’s sacking was not wholly down to results dominated the talk coming out of the Vitality as Gary O’Neiltried to steady the ship after the 9-0 demolition at Liverpool, and the Cherries arguably experienced some of the new manager bounce effect in midweek.
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Wolves went agonisingly close to stealing all three points through both Matheus Nunes and Daniel Podence – the latter of whom saw his header cleared off the line by Lloyd Kelly – but Bournemouth fought valiantly and held on for a 0-0 draw.
The Cherries find themselves level on points with Forest at this early stage and one place below their upcoming opponents in 16th due to their -14 goal difference – unsurprisingly the worst in the league – and it is now four games without a goal for Bournemouth since their opening success over Aston Villa.
Following Bournemouth’s return to the Championship in 2020, the Cherries took 10 points from 12 on offer against Nottingham Forest in the last two seasons, including a 2-1 win at the City Ground last August before the promotion-sealing 1-0 win back in May.
