Liam Delap struck twice as Nottingham Forest moved out of the drop zone with a 3-1 win that condemned Manchester City to a third straight Premier League defeat.

Oliver Glasner’s men exploded out of the traps with Jair Cunha taking advantage of a sloppy mistake from Josko Gvardiol to calmly fire home the opener on six minutes and end this season’s goal drought on home turf in style.

City were lacklustre and error-strewn and it proved costly 12 minutes later as Delap drove through the middle of the pitch before hammering a fine finish beyond Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Rayan Cherki reduced the arrears with a scorching half volley on 52 minutes, but the home side restored their two-goal lead17 minutes from timewhen Delap polished off a lightning counter-attack with a magnificent strike in off the post.

The result means Man City are now six points adrift of champions, Arsenal at the Premier League summit, while Forest move out of the relegation places and are up to 16th spot courtesy of a much-needed first home victory of the season.

Next up, Man City will host Fulham following the international break on Saturday November 21, while Forest visit Bournemouth.