Kyle Walker has said it is ‘unacceptable’ that Manchester City have let their Premier League lead slip following their draw against Nottingham Forest.
The Citizens took themselves to the top of the tree by beating Arsenal on Wednesday, and were hoping to maintain the gap following Saturday’s fixtures.
But just when the Gunners looked like they might drop points in the lunchtime fixture, they scored twice in stoppage time to secure a 4-2 win against Aston Villa.
And Walker, who played every minute of the 1-1 draw at right-back, said he could not accept that Man City were now behind Arsenal again – with the Gunners also having a crucial game in hand which could extend their lead further.
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.’
However, Walker refused to blame his teammates, despite scoring only once against the newly-promoted side, and Erling Haaland being slated for missing two gilt-edged opportunities to kill the game for the visitors.
‘We’ve dropped two points here,’ Walker said. ‘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 England right-back said it was tough to take the result at the City Ground, especially as it followed such a high with their crucial three points earned against Mikel Arteta’s side.
‘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.’
Manchester City’s eye moves to European matters with a trip to RB Leipzig in the Champions League midweek, before a league visit to Bournemouth next week.
SOURCE: dailymail.co.uk
