Many games left to play in the title race, says Pep | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola said there is still a long way to go in the Premier League title race after City were held to a 2-2 by Nottingham Forest.

Match Report

Forest hit back twice as City are forced to settle for a point

Antoine Semenyo and Rodri twice gave City the lead but Forest equalised each time to get a valuable point for their relegation battle.

It brought an end to our six-game winning streak and leaves us seven points behind Arsenal although we have a game in hand with the Gunners still to play at the Etihad.

Guardiola says there are aspects of the game that City can improve with nine matches remaining and everything to play for.

“[There are] still many games to play, them one less,” the boss said after the match.  “Now it’s Newcastle (in the FA Cup) and I always think about what’s next.

“If we analyse then in general it was a good performance and there were many good things. Of course we have things we can improve but in general pretty good.”

It was a frustrating evening as City were twice pegged back and dropped points from a winning position.

“There are games that maybe we don’t deserve it but today we play in general good for more than 90 minutes,” Guardiola added.

“Okay you cannot stop the transition or long balls - it’s not about this action or the other action, in general we played well.

“They were so defensive and are a really good team. We were dynamic.

“Maybe we miss contact with Erling [Haaland] and his incredible movements, we have to look for him a little bit more. But apart from that, in general it was okay.”

Haaland returned to the starting line-up after missing the 1-0 victory over Leeds at the weekend with a knock.

He had a potential penalty shout turned down in the second half but Guardiola would not be drawn on the decision.

“Always I believe we have to do it much better to make sure the officials don’t intervene,” he said.

“It’s our responsibility to be better. If we have to rely on them it’s impossible. Nothing more to say.”