Manchester City beat Nottingham Forest 2-0 despite Rodri red card

Soccer Football - Premier League - Manchester City v Nottingham Forest - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - September 23, 2023 Manchester City's Erling Braut Haaland celebrates scoring their second goal with teammates REUTERS/Phil Noble NO USE WITH UNAUTHORIZED AUDIO, VIDEO, DATA, FIXTURE LISTS, CLUB/LEAGUE LOGOS OR 'LIVE' SERVICES. ONLINE IN-MATCH USE LIMITED TO 45 IMAGES, NO VIDEO EMULATION. NO USE IN BETTING, GAMES OR SINGLE CLUB/LEAGUE/PLAYER PUBLICATIONS.

Manchester City maintained their perfect start to the Premier League season with a 2-0 home win over Nottingham Forest on Saturday, making it six wins out of six despite losing midfielder Rodri to a red card early in the second half.

Phil Foden rifled the opening goal for City in the seventh minute and striker Erling Haaland was left unmarked to head home the second from a Matheus Nunes cross seven minutes later, as City dominated possession for the opening 45 minutes.

The second half had barely gotten underway when Rodri was shown a straight red card following an angry confrontation with Morgan Gibbs-White, with the midfielder thrusting both hands at the throat of the Forest forward before being sent off.

The visitors enjoyed plenty of possession in the second half but struggled to create goal-scoring chances, and City were able to hold on for a win that keeps them top of the table with a perfect 18 points from six games.

Elsewhere, bottom side Luton Town claimed their first Premier League point on Saturday when they held 10-man Wolverhampton Wanderers to a nervy 1-1 draw at a rocking Kenilworth Road.

Luton started the game on the front foot while Wolves struggled to get going, with their frustrations spilling over when Jean-Ricner Bellegarde was sent off for kicking out at Tom Lockyer when they became entangled during a challenge.

Despite going down to 10 men, it was Wolves who shocked the home side when they took the lead after the break through Pedro Neto, who outmuscled his marker and fired his shot past Thomas Kaminski in Luton’s goal.

But Luton were handed a lifeline when Joao Gomes handled the ball in the box and after a VAR review, Carlton Morris stepped up and sent Jose Sa the wrong way to make it 1-1. Wolves are up to 15th while Luton remain bottom with a game in hand.

Meanwhile, Crystal Palace were held to a goalless draw by Fulham in the Premier League on Saturday in a game short on quality at Selhurst Park.

Fulham edged an entertaining but goalless first half — which had significantly more cynical fouls and crunching tackles than clear-cut opportunities — and the visitors had two shots from Andreas Pereira and Willian saved in the first 10 minutes.

Palace weathered the early storm and caused Fulham more problems in the second half. Their standout player was Eberechi Eze, who had two penalty claims denied and kept the opposition defence on their toes with his skill and speed.

In an end-to-end closing spell, Willian and Palace substitute Jean-Philippe Mateta both had chances to score from counter-attacks but neither player was able to break the deadlock between the mid-table sides.

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