Manchester City class shines through as club director issues heartfelt gesture to Nottingham Forest manager | OneFootball

Outgoing director of football, Txiki Begiristain at Manchester City had a heartfelt gesture for Nottingham Forest manager, Nuno Espirito Santo on Saturday.

The hosts found themselves on the winning side of a 1-0 result between the third and fourth-placed teams coming into the contest, extending their advantage over Manchester City in the Premier League to four points.

Victory for Nottingham Forest hands the club a huge stride towards securing UEFA Champions League football for the next season, and issues a significant blow upon Manchester City who continue to find struggles across competitions.

But there was a clear feeling of mutual admiration from the side of the four-time successive Premier League champions for Nottingham Forest, as seen both on the pitch involving individual battles and off the pitch from the part of club officials and staff.

The latest example of that respect to surface in the media concerns one of Manchester City’s senior club officials, who made a point of awaiting Nottingham Forest’s head coach before their respective departures from the City Ground.

After the contest, according to MailSport’s Jack Gaughan, Manchester City’s Txiki Begiristain remained in the car park outside the stadium awaiting the appearance of Nuno Espirito Santo following his celebrations with the Nottingham Forest squad and staff.

It is revealed that Begiristain offered his congratulations, before ‘affectionately scratching the Portuguese manager’s beard’, conversing for a few minutes, and finally hugging before their departures from the stadium.

Manchester City, owing to their early exit from European competition, now have an entire midweek to prepare for their return to Premier League action on Saturday afternoon with Brighton & Hove Albion the visitors to the Etihad Stadium.

Fabian Hurzeler’s south coast outfit are also in hot pursuit of European football for next season having mounted an impressive campaign in the Premier League to date, and their threat to City at the Etihad Stadium will be known by those within the club.

The clash between Manchester City and Brighton will be both teams’ final outing before the March international break, with Pep Guardiola and his players returning to duties with an FA Cup quarter-final meeting against Bournemouth away from home at the end of the month.