Kyle Walker described Manchester City’s 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest as ‘unacceptable’ as they missed the chance to go back to the top of the Premier League.
Manchester City came into the game having climbed to the top of the Premier League in midweek, though Arsenal’s early kickoff victory over Aston Villa saw the Citizens start the game back in second.
The visitors stuck six past Forest earlier in the season, and dominated from the off at the City Ground. They created a whole host of chances, though failed to properly test the ‘keeper, with the hosts happy to sit back while looking to remain compact and organised.
City did however finally manage to take the lead in the 41st minute with what was their first shot on target. Jack Grealish rolled the ball along the edge of the box to find Bernardo Silva, before the Portugal international rifled home a fine first-time strike, though Keylor Navas should perhaps have done better with the ball fairly central.
City enjoyed a whopping 84% possession in the first half, and continued with their domination after the interval but again looked somewhat toothless in front of goal with a number of wasted efforts.
The Champions would be made to pay for their profligacy, as Nottingham Forest equalised with a goal out of nowhere. Brennan Johnson drove forward into the box before laying the ball off to Morgan Gibbs-White. The summer signing drilled the ball low across goal to pick out Chris Wood who couldn’t miss as he poked home from two yards to send the City Ground wild.
City would be unable to find a winner to leave them two points behind Arsenal having played a game more, and speaking afterwards, Kyle Walker said the result was simply ‘unacceptable’.
“First and foremost we go to the Emirates and play the game we did and then come here, it’s unacceptable,” he told Premier League Productions. “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.
“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.”
Pep Guardiola meanwhile said his side ‘should be more aggressive’, but said it one ‘one of the best games’ that his side have produced.
“We did really, really good. It was a really, really good game,” he told Match of the Day. “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.”
