Pep Guardiola's side are once again challenging for the title, whilst Vitor Pereira has been parachuted in at Forest at the 11th hour in the hope of keeping them from dropping into the Championship.
Tricky assignment for the Tricky Trees
With City on a six-match unbeaten run as well as losing just once at home in the Premier League this season, and Forest on a winless streak that stretched to five games after their defeat at Brighton, the Tricky Trees' assignment was possibly as daunting as they come.
Omari Hutchinson, who scored his side's goal in the 2-1 defeat to City at home earlier this season, was one of two players left out by Pereira, as the Portuguese looked to put the biggest of dents in Guardiola's hunt for another league title.
Phil Foden was one of two changes for the hosts, the Englishman making his 118th home appearance in the English top-flight for City, moving level with Yaya Toure in joint 10th for most home appearances for the club in the competition.
Teammate Bernardo Silva was starting his 350th match for the club across all competitions, becoming the first outfield player to reach 350+ starts under Guardiola for any club, and only the second player overall after Ederson (371).
Forest signal their intent
Forest quickly signalled their intent at the Etihad Stadium, firing off three shots in the opening two minutes.
As expected, however, it was the hosts who set the tempo with a remarkable 75% collective possession in the opening quarter hour.
Once into their stride, City's attacking bombardment began in earnest, with both Silva and Foden having two attempts each.
Despite Elliot Anderson's best efforts to stem the flow of service from City's midfield, the England international would go on to win four of his five tackles, and 11 of his 21 one-on-ones - the most from any player on the pitch - almost 50% of the game had been played inside Forest's defensive third in the first 30 minutes.
Semenyo bags the opener
It was therefore no surprise at all when Antoine Semenyo continued his goalscoring run with the opener, a volleyed effort after Rayan Cherki had taken three Forest defenders with him before providing the assist (his eighth this season, the most of any City player).
Semenyo's impact at his new club can be measured by the fact that, since his City debut in January, only Viktor Gyokeres' 10 goal involvements and eight total goals are more than the Ghanaians' nine (seven goals, two assists) across competitions for Premier League players.
Although Forest were passing the ball around well, with Ibrahim Sangare's 92.3% completion stat particularly impressive, they weren't making any inroads towards the City goal.
Indeed, much of their play had been concentrated in a congested midfield, with Nicolas Dominguez another to be fighting fires. Eight duels won, and possession won back eight times was a perfect accompaniment to Anderson's industry.
Gibbs-White restores parity
The pattern of the second half began in the way the first had finished, and the visitors had barely made it out of their own half in the 10 minutes after half-time.
However, with their first attack of the half, Morgan Gibbs-White's inventive backheel goal brought them level against the run of play. His eighth of the season also gave him the best goals return of his career in a single campaign.
City continued to pour forward with Silva having 11 touches in the Forest box alone. Only Erling Haaland from the starting lineup had a final-third pass accuracy lower than 80%, so it was to the great credit of players like Murillo (seven clearances) and Jair Cunha (five) that the visitors were managing to hang on.
Just past the hour, Rodri's powerful header from a corner - his only effort on target - restored City's lead.
Elliot Anderson silences the Etihad
Incredibly, that was his first league goal since 19th May 2024, against West Ham United.
Perhaps complacency then seeped into the hosts' game as Anderson was given the freedom of the Etihad to fire home a wonderful effort past Gianluigi Donnarumma.
The goal silenced the home section of the stadium and left Guardiola raging on the touchline.
Just one of four shots on target Forest had in the game, it would ultimately be enough to earn them a valuable point in the fight against relegation.
Scrappy end and advantage Arsenal
A second goal conceded by City meant that this has happened in two of their last four Premier League home matches against sides starting the day in the bottom six, which is as many times as in their previous 32 home games against such sides.
774 passes made by the hosts were the most by any team in a Premier League game this season, but it counted for little, and the drama continued until the very last kick.
A scrappy last 10 minutes was to be expected, though Semenyo hitting the woodwork almost won the day for City. Murillo then somehow cleared Savinho's shot off the line after a melee, with referee Darren England blowing for full-time directly afterwards.
With an xG of 2.12 and 21 shots at goal in the game, not to mention their 24 crosses and 14 successful dribbles, City really should've put this one to bed even before Anderson equalised.
The fact that they didn't has handed Arsenal a seven-point lead and advantage in the title race, and given Forest a point that could well prove vital in their battle against relegation.
