NOTTINGHAM, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Manchester City beat Nottingham Forest 2-1 to move provisionally to the top of the Premier League table after Rayan Cherki grabbed a goal and assist away at The City Ground on Saturday.
The French midfielder first threaded the pass for City's opener before striking an 83rd-minute winner from a set-piece to secure their eighth straight victory across all competitions.
The result moved City to 40 points, one ahead of Arsenal who face Brighton & Hove Albion later on Saturday. Forest remain in 17th place, nervously looking over their shoulder at a five-point gap between them and the relegation zone.
"When the games come we need just one thing: to win. We take the points because the championship is so long and so hard, so today is a big win," Cherki told TNT Sports.
"It's good for the team because the game was not simple."
City dominated possession in a goalless first half but struggled to break down Forest's compact defensive shape, with striker Erling Haaland largely isolated up front.
Forest's best chance fell to Morgan Gibbs-White, who failed to convert Callum Hudson-Odoi's cross in behind the defence early in the game.
CHERKI AND REIJNDERS FIND CITY BREAKTHROUGH
The breakthrough came within three minutes of the restart when Cherki slipped the ball through for Tijjani Reijnders and the Dutchman fired home from an angle to make it 1-0.
"Cherki knows how to find those passes and I could finish that one. He is very good, he finds spaces and when he gets the ball you have to be ready and in position," Reijnders said.
But City's lead lasted only six minutes as Forest launched a swift counter-attack that ended with Igor Jesus crossing for Omari Hutchinson, who took his shot first-time and beat Gianluigi Donnarumma to score his first goal for the club.
Forest sensed victory but squandered chances when Jesus and Nicolo Savona both shot over, while at the other end Phil Foden's effort was well saved by goalkeeper John Victor.
City's sustained pressure finally paid off when Josko Gvardiol headed down a corner kick for Cherki, who took it on the half-volley and sent a low drive from the edge of the box into the back of the net to restore their lead.
"All the kilos I won (gained) over Christmas time in weight, today I lost it. I am fit again. What a team Sean Dyche has made again. That's a really, really big three points," Guardiola said.
Forest's loss also extended Sean Dyche's winless record against Pep Guardiola to 17 Premier League games, the longest winless streak for a manager against another in the league.
DYCHE UNHAPPY WITH MATCH OFFICIALS
But Dyche blamed the match officials for the defeat, describing their performance as 'unacceptable' after he felt decisions did not go their way.
Dyche complained that Gibbs-White was pushed to the ground for the second goal and could not get back up in time to block Cherki's shot.
"Unfortunately, the officials had a huge part of the game today and that's very unfortunate," Dyche said.
"We don't want that, but scratching my head now, I can't believe it. Just look back at some of the incidents, I just can't believe what I'm watching.
"There's plenty of people here, there's TV cameras here, but everyone can see the performance today. But it's unacceptable, in my opinion, because it affects the game massively."
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; editing by Pritha Sarkar and Tomasz Janowski)
