Pep Guardiola was pleased with his side’s performance on Saturday (Picture: Getty)
Pep Guardiola hailed Manchester City’s draw at Nottingham Forest as one of their best performances of the season after it kept Arsenal top of the table.
The City boss refused to criticise his players as the Premier League title race produced yet another twist on Saturday.
Arsenal were losing 1-0 and 2-1 at Aston Villa in the early kick-off but a second-half comeback saw them win 4-2 after dramatically scoring twice in added time.
That result moved to Gunners back to the top of the league after City temporarily leapfrogged them on Wednesday with a 3-1 win at the Emirates.
Guardiola’s side would have moved back top themselves had they beaten Forest later in the day but they conceded in the 84th minute to drop two points.
City’s draw means Arsenal are now two points clear with a game in hand as the Gunners look to win their first Premier League title since 2004.
Guardiola, though, who has guided City to four Premier League titles in the last five seasons, is keeping calm and heaped praise on his players after their disappointing draw with promoted side Forest.
‘We did really, really good,’ Guardiola told the BBC. ‘It was a really, really good game.
‘We had amazing chances but it’s football. We have to score. We did everything. You have to do it. There were too many clear [chances] to score.
‘It is one of the best games we have played but we drop two points. We should be more aggressive. There are many games still to play, we know it.’
He later told reporters: ‘Congratulations to Nottingham Forest for the point they got.
‘It was a brilliant performance, we played really good but at that level you have to score and we didn’t do it and that’s why we dropped points.
‘The action for the goal we could defend better, with more energy, but the way we played was brilliant.
‘The first half it should be already 2 or 3-0, we concede one shot on target and we drop points.
‘It’s sad, disappointing, but the way we played was really really good. If we missed the chances that we missed it’s because today was not the day to win the game.
‘We made the process really well against a team that defended with 9-10 players in the box.
‘We controlled transitions, we created chances from set pieces and we missed the goals from one metre to the goalkeeper, not just one, a few, and yeah we did really well. We didn’t score and that’s all, what can I say?’
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Mind games?
