NOTTINGHAM, England (AP) — Erling Haaland came off the bench to seal Manchester City’s 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Sunday.
Haaland had missed the last two matches due to injury and was only named as a substitute for the trip to the City Ground.
But he quickly got back in goal after a typically lethal finish just nine minutes after coming on.
The win helped second-placed City reduce the gap on league leaders Arsenal to one point over their title rivals beat tottenham 3-2 earlier in the day.
Meanwhile, Haaland’s goal took him ahead of Chelsea’s Cole Palmer as the league’s leading scorer with 21 goals this season.
City have a game in hand on Arsenal and will win their fourth consecutive title if they win their remaining four games this season. It would also be its sixth title in seven years during a period of almost complete domestic dominance.
City went ahead in the 32nd minute through Josh Guardiol’s near-post header from Kevin De Bruyne’s corner.
Forest had chances to level the game as Chris Wood twice failed to provide a clinical finish from close range.
Haaland then put the result beyond doubt by making De Bruyne the provider again.
Haaland showed quick movement to beat Murillo, collecting the ball just outside the box, and then fired a low shot into the far corner to beat Matz-Sels.
A point of concern for City was the injury to goalkeeper Ederson, who went off at halftime after injuring his shoulder.
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