The Liam Delap brace helped Nottingham Forest secure their second win of the 2026/27 Premier League, but what an important victory it was for the Tricky Trees. Not only did it pull them out of the relegation zone, which in turn pushed Manchester United into the drop zone before their clash against Aston Villa, but it also saw Manchester City record their third consecutive league loss.
In a way, the Liam Delap brace against Manchester City marked the opening of a new chapter for the striker. After leaving Chelsea because the manager didn’t believe in his abilities, that manager being current Cityzens boss Enzo Maresca, he came back to haunt the Italian head coach, with the Liam Delap brace doing the talking in the Nottingham Forest vs Manchester City clash.
Scoring only his second-ever Premier League brace, the 23-year-old striker still has a lot to prove at the City Ground to justify his hefty summer transfer, but after two fantastic goals against Manchester City, the Liam Delap brace proved that, under all the criticism, there is a class striker who is finally getting the chance to shine in the Premier League once more.
Liam Delap Brace: Is Nottingham Forest’s Summer Forward Signing Finally Going To Hit The Ground Running?
After a successful 2024/25 Premier League campaign with Ipswich Town, where Delap managed to score 12 goals and provide two assists in his debut top-flight season, several top clubs were interested in signing the striker, with Manchester City as one of the teams. The Cityzens looked to reunite with their academy product, but Chelsea secured his signature in the summer of 2025.
Now, with any high-profile move, there is a weight of expectation, and after a double-digit goal-scoring season in your debut Premier League campaign, Delap certainly had some pressure on his shoulders to back those figures up for the Blues. However, with competition for the striker spot at Chelsea between him and Joao Pedro, who signed from Brighton & Hove Albion in the same summer, Enzo Maresca, who was then the Chelsea manager, picked on the Brazilian to lead the line instead of the Englishman.
A frustrating season unfolded for Delap. After being a star for a relegation-battling Ipswich, he failed to make the same impact for Chelsea. Although he managed to play 47 games in all competitions for the Blues, most of those appearances saw him come off the bench, with just over 1,000 minutes played in 28 Premier League appearances. After a £30 million summer transfer, Delap only managed one goal and one assist in the league, as Chelsea continued to add attacking talent to the huge pool of players.
Even with a horror season, Nottingham Forest moved in for the forward in the 2026 summer transfer window and signed Delap for a club-record fee of £50 million. Hoping to add to his striking department, with Igor Jesus and Chris Wood needing back-up, new Nottingham Forest manager Oliver Glasner added Delap to his ranks.
An attacking department that consisted of lightning-quick wingers like Dan N’Doye, James McAtee and Callum Hudson-Odoi, the Forest captain, Morgan Gibbs-White, controlling the game from attacking midfield, and strong strikers like the aforementioned Wood, Igor Jesus and Delap, the Tricky Trees had an exceptional squad on paper.
Forest were unbeaten after three games, and Liam Delap had his first goal after he netted the opener in the Tricky Trees’ 2-1 win over Aston Villa. However, since that game, it has been doom and gloom for Forest and Delap. Five games without a win, no goals from the striker and the team fell into the relegation zone.
With Nottingham Forest vs Manchester City next for Oliver Glasner’s men, the game was an ideal match for their form to be turned around. That’s exactly what happened, as Forest surrendered possession, took their chances and came away with an extrordinary 3-1 victory to stun the Cityzens.
For the first time since September 2024, a Liam Delap brace occurred, and both goals were well-taken strikes by the 23-year-old. Both efforts were hit with such power and venom that no goalkeeper in the world would be able to save them, and that was the case for one of the world’s best, Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Moving to three Premier League goals this season, the Liam Delap brace showed that when the striker is called upon and used effectively, he can shine, score goals and continue to prove doubters wrong. With that being said, the road to justifying his £50 million price tag has only just begun, and he needs to back this performance up with more goals after the international break.
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Extra Time Notes
After breaking through at the Manchester City Academy, the Liam Delap brace against the Cityzens was like a fairy tale waiting to be written. The 23-year-old has not had the easiest of rides in the last 12 months or so after his high-profile departure from Ipswich Town to Chelsea. Being underused was the main problem that Delap faced whilst at Chelsea, as he never forced himself into the starting XI.
The striker has shown in the Nottingham Forest vs Manchester City game that he can be clinical, with two out of his three shots turning to be goals. However, after nine Premier League games, Delap has been wasteful with his shots, as out of 27 shots, he has only managed to guide five on target, with three of them being goals.
With another international break ahead of us, the Liam Delap brace might just be the reward of hard work, a lot of struggles and the turning point that the striker needs to turn his form around. The 23-year-old has comfortably cleared his Premier League goal tally from last season, but after the Liam Delap brace, can Nottingham Forest go on a run that brings him closer to smashing his record from his debut campaign in the top-flight?
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