Kyle Walker said Manchester City’s performance was “not acceptable” after they missed the opportunity to return to the top of the Premier League with a draw against Nottingham Forest at the City Ground.
Chris Wood’s late goal cancelled out Bernardo Silva’s rocket from 20 yards, with the visitors missing chances in abundance to put the game to bed.
“We’ve dropped two points here,” said Walker. “The chances we had in front of goal – we need to be better, [with] the calibre of players we’ve got up front we should be scoring them and putting them away.”
Erling Haaland volleyed against the crossbar and ballooned the rebound over the top after Aymeric Laporte’s header was brilliantly saved by Forest keeper Keylor Navas.
But Morgan Gibbs-White’s fizzed cross was tapped in at the far post in the 84th minute for Wood’s first Forest goal.
“I’m not blaming anyone,” Walker told Match of the Day. “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.
“We know 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.”
The draw extended Forest’s unbeaten home run to eight games and meant City dropped to second after Arsenal returned to the top with a 4-2 comeback win against Aston Villa earlier on Saturday.
“The hard work we did on Wednesday [in the win against Arsenal], it hasn’t gone to waste, but this is a blow because you put that good shift in 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,” Walker said.
“Hopefully there’s a few twists and turns in our direction now and we can go and be up there or there abouts to go and win this Premier League.”
