Pep Guardiola defends Man City display after costly Nottingham Forest draw

Pep Guardiola insisted he could be pleased with Manchester City’s performance in the wake of a what could be a hugely costly 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest.

City twice blew the lead at home to relegation-battling opponents, with goals from Morgan Gibbs-White and Elliot Anderson cancelling out Antoine Semenyo and Rodri efforts.

The draw allowed Arsenal to pull seven points clear of City at the top of the Premier League having played a game more than Guardiola’s side.

City had led 1-0 at the break, but an improvised equaliser from Gibbs-White changed the mood inside the Etihad as the hosts slipped up in the second half of yet another match, taking the total number of points dropped from winning positions this season to 13.

“Maybe it’s a lot,” Guardiola said. “But there are games where we don’t deserve it. Today we played in general good for 90 minutes…

“It’s not about this action or that action. In general when we analyse the game the game was well played.

“In the end we created a lot against a team that is really defensive, a really good time. We were dynamic. We missed maybe more contact with Erling (Haaland), his incredible movements, we have to look for him a bit more, but in general it was well played.”

Guardiola would not be drawn on a penalty claim for City late in the game when Haaland went down when he knocked the ball past Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels, with the decision checked and cleared by VAR.

City then thought they had a winner deep into stoppage time, but substitute Savinho saw his strike cleared off the line by Murillo.

The initiative in the title race is now firmly with Arsenal after their 1-0 win at Brighton, but attention in the short term switches to this weekend’s FA Cup fixtures.

“The feeling is we have to play one less,” Guardiola said when asked about the title race. “Now it is Newcastle, always the thought is about what’s next.”

While City lost ground at the top, the point kept Forest out of the relegation zone on a night when West Ham won at Fulham.

Forest boss Vitor Pereira said: “It was a tough game, but with a lot of personality by my team with quality and organisation.

“With one day less to recover it’s not easy, five games in 15 days and then the travel to play, it’s not easy to perform at this level…I’m happy with my players.”

Pereira is still without a win in 13 Premier League games this season with Wolves and Forest, but this result was celebrated like one at the final whistle.

“It’s important to prove that we can (do it),” he added.

“The game in Brighton (Sunday’s 2-1 defeat) was for me and for the players, in the first half, disappointing because we never (applied) our pressure in a compact way, we never played as a block.

“Today we recovered again our positions, our organisation, and against a top team, waiting for the right moments to hurt them.”