Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has disputed Kyle Walker’s response to Manchester City’s draw with Nottingham Forest in the Premier League.
Pep Guardiola produced a stunning first-half performance but came out unlucky amidst goal chances at City Ground.
Bernardo Silva finally put the Premier League champions ahead late in the first half with a superb strike from 25 yards, but the narrow 1-0 lead was surrendered late in the game.
Despite playing second fiddle to the star-studded side, Steve Cooper finally tilted the game with a series of second-half substitutions that gave the home side an attacking edge.
Late in the second half, Chris Wood turned the game around for Nottingham Forest after a quick counterattack.
Nottingham Forest ended up sharing spoils with the Premier League champions after surviving late pressure by the visitors to return to the lead.
Manchester City came across a series of goal-scoring chances that would have buried the game before Chris Wood’s late equaliser.
Following the draw, City failed to return to the summit of the Premier League table, and are now two points away from Arsenal, who have a game in hand.
The game was a disappointing display that cost the team a good chance to go top again after Arsenal scored two late goals at Villa Park to seal a win and retake the lead on the Premier League top.
City’s profligacy in front of goals cost the team all three points as they settled for the disappointing draw.
Reacting to the shock draw, Manchester City left-back and England star Kyle Walker labeled Manchester City’s performance at City Ground as “unacceptable.”
Kyle Walker maintained that dropping two points against an inconsistent Nottingham Forest was unacceptable.
The England star urged the team to do better after missing some good chances that would have changed the game.
“First and foremost we go to the Emirates and play the game we did and then come here, it’s unacceptable,” he said. “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.
“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.”
Kyle Walker added that he was not being downbeat or pessimistic of the team but all about the performance of the team.
He added: “We know as lads that’s not acceptable. That’s not me being downbeat, 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.”
It appears Kyle Walker’s post-match comments did not sit well with his manager Pep Guardiola. The former Barcelona boss maintained Manchester City had a “really, really, good game” but failed to convert their chances.
In his words, Pep Guardiola insisted that Manchester City’s game against Nottingham Forest was “one of the best games” they have played so far, just that the team was unlucky in front of goals.
“We did really, really good. It was a really, really good game,” Pep Guardiola said. “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.”
Manchester City were dominant throughout the game, wielding 73% of the ball against Nottingham Forest’s 27%. However, they failed to utilize their overwhelming display and ended up dropping points against the low-ly rated side.
Pep Guardiola and his team now hope Arsenal stumble in their next Premier League game against Leicester City while they secure a win against Bournemouth in their next game.
