Pep Guardiola has criticised his Manchester City players after they blew a two goal lead against Brentford on Tuesday.
A brace from Phil Foden put City 2-0 up and they looked to be cruising to victory as the game entered the final ten minutes. However, a late strike from Yoane Wissa and a header in injury time from Christian Norgaard earned Brentford a 2-2 draw.
And Guardiola was left disappointed after his side dropped two points and admitted they “didn’t take the right decisions” as they looked to close out the game. “We’re a bit disappointed but at 2-0 up we didn’t manage to hold on to the lead and unfortunately we couldn’t close the game,” Guardiola told TNT Sports.
“Today we didn’t take the right decisions in the final third. I had the feeling that we didn’t take the right decisions in the final third to close the game. With the absence of the central defenders, Rodri, with many things, we are not [at our best] and we didn’t take the right decisions.
“It’s fine, it’s not a good place to come. Unfortunately, we couldn’t win. I don’t know [why City are struggling to hold on to leads], it can happen. Sometimes it happens. We have to manage a little bit better but today was not bad.”
Foden also made a concerning admission after the game, stating that City slipped up against Brentford because they were “tired”. Foden told TNT Sports : “We just looked tired at the end, the last 20, 30 minutes.
“We looked leggy and they put the pressure on and put longer balls into the box. We didn’t cope with the physicality at the end. It’s one of the toughest places to come and they give you different challenges.
“I was happy with the performance up until we went 1-0 up and then after that we let our performance slip and gave the ball away. It’s something to learn from. They gave us a challenge today and we did the best we could.
“It’s definitely picked up from previously and performances are a lot better than they were. We’ve still got steps to go to where we want to be but as long as we keep making them small steps and improving, that’s what we’re aiming to do.”
Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of MirrorFootball content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
Sky has slashed the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle in an unbeatable new deal that saves £192 and includes 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.
A title race you can’t miss. Get City news for FREE sent directly to your inbox!
