Pep Guardiola fears Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson could be out of the title race run-in after suffering a serious shoulder injury.
Ederson was replaced at half-time and left the City Ground wearing a sling after City kept up the pressure on leaders Arsenal with a hard-fought win. Stefan Ortega, who had a recent six-game run for City when Ederson was out with a thigh problem, could now come in for the remainder of the season, if the shoulder injury is as bad as feared.
Goals from Josko Gvardiol and Erling Haaland took City within a point of the Gunners with a game in hand, but Guardiola admitted there are major concerns over Ederson. “It doesn’t look good,” said Guardiola, when asked about Ederson. “We’ll see tomorrow with the doctor.”
Reflecting on the victory, which marked his 300th Premier League game, Guardiola said: “It was more than hard. Such a difficult game, but we knew that. It’s always difficult to come here. We suffered a lot but, in the end, we’ll take it.
“The pressure is about how you play. iIf you play well and control the game, then people say you don’t feel the pressure. If you play badly, people say you feel the pressure.
“We were lucky today that the pitch was so dry, because that was the reason they missed the chances they did. We were lucky the pitch was in this condition.”
Haaland, who scored his 32nd goal of the season, said: “It was an important win, that was the most important thing. It doesn’t matter how we do it, it’s about winning.
“It’s about winning the game and that’s exactly what we did. The most important thing is to not think, especially in these moments. Honestly, if you over think, you’re going to be crazy in your head, so relax and enjoy.”
Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo said the club hope to learn in the coming days the outcome of their appeal against their four point deduction for breaking the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules.
The Forest boss said: “We’re all waiting on that decision. We’re hoping it’s very soon, so we can deal with the reality. We don’t know how exactly many points we are on – 26, 28 or 30. Let’s wait and see. It will make a big difference. Not just for us, for everybody, all the league.”