Erling Haaland gives Pep Guardiola's Manchester City control in the Premier League title race

Haaland's 71st minute strike gave City a 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest after Josko Gvardiol opened the scoring

The three-way battle for the Premier League is now a two-way duel and it's Manchester City who have taken control in the race with a 2-0 victory over Nottingham Forest thanks to goals from Josko Gvardiol and Erling Haaland.

Gvardiol, who only joined the club in the summer, rubber-stamped his mark on the title charge in the 32nd minute when he ran across the near-post and fired a bullet header past Matz Seis to dampen Forest hearts at the City Ground.

But they rallied and gave Pep Guardiola's men a strong challenge throughout the contest, but in their quest to stay in the division, they lacked the cutting edge needed to punish the defending champions.

That's not a quality associated with Haaland who, just 10 minutes after being subbed on, finished the contest by sizing up Murillo. With a feint, he sat the Brazilian centerback down before passing into the corner to seal the deal for the Cityzens.

There is concern for the champions though, as they bid for a fourth title in a row, as Ederson had to be taken off at half-time. Ederson had gone down earlier in the half but continued and then was finally swapped for Stefan Ortega.

Precautionary, perhaps? We will find out, but it would be a huge blow considering the Brazilian's calmness and assuredness when handling and distributing the ball to maintain and start Manchester City pressure.

Far from their best, Manchester City still got the job done which is something that can't be said for Liverpool, who after dropping points against Everton and West Ham, have slipped to five points behind the leaders.

Arsenal stayed top of the pile for now with a 3-2 win against Tottenham