Kyle Walker started Man City’s draw at Forest (Photo: Getty)
Kyle Walker has blasted the performance of his Manchester City team after they slipped up in the Premier League title race by drawing at Nottingham Forest.
Having beaten title rivals Arsenal last Wednesday night to go top of the table, many expected City to maintain their lead when they travelled to the City Ground on Saturday.
Pep Guardiola’s side took the lead shortly before half-time thanks to Bernardo Silva and though they were struggling to extend their advantage, it seemed that the Citizens were cruising to all three points with Forest offering nothing going forward.
But with just six minutes to go, Chris Wood scored an equaliser with the home side’s only shot on target of the entire match.
This result, combined with Arsenal’s thrilling 4-2 comeback victory at Aston Villa in the early kick-off, means that the Gunners have retaken their lead over the Citizens and are now two points clear at the top and still have a game in hand over their rivals.
While there is still a long way to go in the season, it is a huge blow for City, with right-back Walker telling BBC Sport: ‘First and foremost we go to the Emirates and play the game we did and then come here, it’s unacceptable.
‘If we want to compete with teams near the top we need to win. We missed a few chances and we need to do better as a team.
Chris Wood scored a shock late equaliser against City (Photo: Getty)
‘Sometimes it’s football and sometimes it’s emotion. Every game should be treated the same – like a cup final. What can I say other than it is unacceptable. We have to stick together as a group.
‘The senior members of the team put our thoughts across. That is just not acceptable. We have to give credit to Nottingham Forest. They dug in and hung on. We have to do better.
‘We’ve dropped two points here. The chances we had in front of goal we need to be better, the calibre of players we’ve got up front we should be scoring them and putting them away.
‘But that’s not blaming anyone, if the strikers aren’t getting the luck or hitting the target us as a defensive unit need to hang onto the 1-0 victory and secure the three points.
‘That’s not me being down beat but we’ve set such high standards over the last few years that it should be four or five nil, game done and we move onto the next game.
‘The hard work we did on Wednesday, it hasn’t gone to waste, but this is a blow because you put that good shift in on Wednesday and play a game that we’re not used to with the low percent of possession.
So to come here and drop two points is not ideal but hopefully there’s a few twists and turns in our direction and now and we can go and be up there or there abouts to go and win this Premier League.’
Next up for City in the league is a trip to Bournemouth next Saturday evening, but before then they travel to RB Leipzig for the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie.
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City conceded a shock late equaliser to Nottingham Forest.
