Nottingham Forest travelled to the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday evening to face reigning Premier League champions Manchester City.
Steve Cooper made three changes from Sunday’s fixture against Tottenham Hotspur, Renan Lodi and Remo Freuler making their first Forest starts in place of Harry Toffolo and Jesse Lingard, with Cheikhou Kouyaté replacing Steve Cook in the centre of defence.
Bernardo Silva created the first chance for the hosts on 5 minutes, winning a corner after a dangerous run into the penalty area before being thwarted by McKenna. A trio of corners in quick succession followed but Forest stood firm to clear.
City were ahead on 12 minutes, a short corner found Phil Foden before the England international crossed to pick out Erling Haaland who managed to steer the ball past Dean Henderson and into the net from close range.
Forest looked to equalise minutes later, Lewis O’Brien did fantastically to dispossess City captain Ilkay Gündogan on the halfway line before driving into the penalty area via Brennan Johnson’s pass, the initial ball into the area was cleared before Neco Williams’ cross found Lodi at the back-post but he couldn’t trouble Brazil international teammate Ederson with a header into the side netting.
City doubled their lead on 23 minutes as Haaland added his eighth of the season, tapping home after Williams saw a tackle deflect into the Norwegian’s path to apply the finishing touch from close range.
The hosts dominated large spells of possession at the Etihad and thought they had a third, John Stones sliding in at the back-post divert the ball into the net but the offside flag was up.
Haaland netted his hat-trick on 38 minutes, Cancelo’s impressive cross with the outside of his right foot found Foden inside the area, he headed across goal to find Stones and Haaland was there to finish past Henderson.
Julian Álvarez looked to add another before the break on his first City start, jinking towards the edge of the penalty area before seeing a left-footed strike hit the outside of Henderson’s right-hand post.
Half time: Manchester City 3-0 Nottingham Forest
Cancelo scored City’s fourth on 50 minutes, Silva laying the ball to his fellow Portugal international to fire a powerful right-footed effort from the edge of the box into the top left corner.
Steve Cooper's first changes of the evening saw attacking duo Emmanuel Dennis and Taiwo Awoniyi replace Morgan Gibbs-White and Johnson on 57 minutes as City introduced Riyad Mahrez and Cole Palmer for Rodri and Foden.
City had a fifth on 65 minutes, Mahrez finding Álvarez’s run into the penalty area before the forward found a neat finish past Henderson and into the far corner.
Kevin De Bruyne and Sergio Gomez came on for the hosts as Pep Guardiola freshened up his side, replacing two of the goalscorers in Haaland and Cancelo.
Meanwhile, a double Forest switch saw Yates and Lodi replaced by Jack Colback and Harry Toffolo with 20 minutes remaining.
With just over 10 minutes left on the clock, defender Giulian Biancone made his debut for The Reds as he replaced Kouyaté for the closing stages at the Etihad.
Forest saw a spell of possession inside the City half lead to O'Brien drawing a foul from Gündogan, Dennis took responsibility with the free-kick but saw his effort hit the wall.
From the resulting counter-attack, City added a sixth as De Bruyne broke forward, Mahrez then saw an effort blocked but Álvarez finished with a powerful strike to add his second of the evening.
Full time: Manchester City 6-0 Nottingham Forest
Man City: Ederson; Kyle Walker, Rúben Dias, John Stones (Rico Lewis 75'), João Cancelo (Sergio Gomez 68'); Rodri (Riyad Mahrez 55'), Ilkay Gündogan, Bernardo Silva; Julian Alvarez, Erling Haaland (Kevin De Bruyne 68'), Phil Foden (Cole Palmer 55')
Substitutes: Stefan Ortega, Claudio Gomes, Ben Knight, Joshua Wilson-Esbrand
Goals: Haaland (12', 23', 38'), Cancelo (50'), Álvarez (65', 87')
Forest: Henderson; Joe Worrall, Cheikhou Kouyaté (Giulian Biancone 78'), Scott McKenna; Neco Williams, Ryan Yates (Jack Colback 69'), Remo Freuler, Lewis O’Brien, Renan Lodi (Harry Toffolo 69'); Morgan Gibbs-White (Emmanuel Dennis 57'), Brennan Johnson (Taiwo Awoniyi 57')
Substitutes: Wayne Hennessey, Steve Cook, Jesse Lingard, Sam Surridge