Manchester City put their recent disastrous spell behind them as they ended a seven-game winless streak by beating Nottingham Forest.

First-half goals from Bernardo Silva and star man Kevin de Bruyne put Pep Guardiola's side in command by the break, with Jeremy Doku adding a third 12 minutes after the interval.

After six defeats and a 3-3 draw with Feyenoord that must have felt like a loss given City were 3-0 up with 20 minutes left, the delight at successfully reaching the finish line on this occasion was obvious.

It wasn't perfect for the hosts. There were too many miscontrols and stray passes for that.

And if Chris Wood had finished - as it felt the whole stadium expected - when he ran clear from De Bruyne's wayward pass back into his own half instead of rolling the shot wide, Forest would have levelled Silva's eighth-minute tap-in and home nerves would have frayed.

But De Bruyne struck at the other end almost immediately as he edged away from Doku to find enough space to collect his fellow Belgian's short pass and apply the perfect finish.

When Doku found the corner with his own excellent strike from the edge of the area to complete City's joint-biggest margin of victory in the league, in what has turned into a tortuous season, Guardiola's celebration was one of pure relief.

Pep's faith in Ortega rewarded

In his programme notes, Guardiola said it was his job to find solutions to his side's present plight and ominously added: "And I will."

That calls for bold and radical thinking.

In addition to restoring De Bruyne to his starting line-up, Guardiola made a couple of other decisions that turned out to be quite significant.

Firstly, he plonked Jack Grealish into a central spot alongside the Belgian, which allowed him to carry the ball into dangerous positions in the middle of the pitch, creating more space out wide for Doku and Silva and forcing the Forest defence to drop off, opening up room for De Bruyne.

Secondly, he stuck with Stefan Ortega in goal.

Guardiola did say in the build-up Ederson remained his number-one pick. But this was the first time since May 2023, when he was manipulating his team for their final push towards a historic Treble, that Ortega started successive Premier League games.

And after ending that long 39-day wait for a victory, there has to be a question over when Ederson will return.

The German made a couple of priceless contributions between City’s first-half goals.

It could be argued that by standing his ground, he helped force Wood into the miss on which the entire contest swung.

But before that Ortega had produced a magnificent one-handed stop low to his right to ensure Morgan Gibbs-White did not sweep Jota Silva's cutback into the bottom corner with his sweetly-struck first-time effort.

Ortega wasn't a passenger, even after City had given themselves a three-goal cushion, gathering at the second attempt in a crowded penalty area after blocking Elliot Anderson's powerful effort.

Guardiola relief at victory

Guardiola spent the last few minutes of the match with his arms crossed tightly across his chest, likely willing referee Michael Oliver to blow his whistle for full-time.

The pressure he puts himself under at the best of times is huge. In recent weeks, it has been even more obvious.

When Oliver finally ended the contest there was no need to stick six fingers in the air, as he did at Anfield at the weekend to remind everyone how many titles he has won at City.

Instead, he calmly shook fellow manager Nuno Espirito Santo by the hand, did the same with the Forest backroom team, then headed off straight down the tunnel with his own thoughts.

Earlier, Guardiola had been far more demonstrative, urging his side on, calling Doku over for a chat and burying his head in his hands at two missed opportunities from Josko Gvardiol when tension still hung in the air with uncertainty over might unfold.

After the second goal, he turned to the City fans behind him and made the acknowledged signal to start talking. He had also used his programme notes to call for a collective effort to get out of their strife.

The volume did increase for a while before the game turned into one of those that have been so familiar to City, easing to the line, missing only an additional goal that would have given them their biggest Premier League win of the campaign.

Guardiola knows this is just one win and there is a lot of work ahead to repair the damage of the past month. But at least they have made a start.