Kyle Walker has expressed his disappointment with Manchester City’s draw against Nottingham Forest, labelling it as “unacceptable” and “two points dropped” in the Premier League title race with Arsenal.
The 1-1 draw against newly-promoted Forest left City two points behind the Gunners, who won their earlier match against Aston Villa with two goals in stoppage time.
Walker told 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.
“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 missed a few chances and we need to do better as a team…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.”
Despite scoring only one goal against Forest, the England right-back refused to blame his teammates, saying, “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.
“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.”
Walker’s frustration is understandable given the importance of the match in the title race.
City had just beaten Arsenal to take top spot in the league and were hoping to extend their lead. However, Forest had other plans and managed to equalise with six minutes to go, denying City a crucial three points.
“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,” Walker said.
“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.”
The draw leaves City with a lot of work to do if they are to win their fourth Premier League title in five years.
They will have to hope that Arsenal drop points in their remaining fixtures and that they can take advantage of any slip-ups.
City will now shift their focus to European matters, with a trip to RB Leipzig in the Champions League midweek, before visiting Bournemouth in the Premier League next week.