Micah Richards has praised Nottingham Forest for defending 'for their lives' in Saturday's 1-1 draw with Manchester City.
Forest picked up a superb late point thanks to Chris Wood's equaliser six minutes from time, in what was their only shot on target. City were made to pay for a number of missed chances throughout the match, with Erling Haaland, Phil Foden and Aymeric Laporte all guilty of missing sitters.
Pep Guardiola's side actually had 23 shots in comparison to Forest's four in the 90 minutes and while Richards believes the Reds did ride their luck at times, he did praise them for sticking in right until the end.
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Speaking on Match of the Day, he said: “City had so many chances but Forest did defend really, really deep. We’re going to show you a heat map here and it’s actually quite entertaining to be honest. They defended for their lives and fair play to their back unit but it did come down to some massive, massive chances.
"First one in the second half from Foden, he’s got so many different options, he could go left, right or even dink but because Haaland’s on his left hand side he’s sort of caught in two minds and he makes the wrong decision. It’s too late, chance is gone. Second comes in, Laporte with a bullet header, Navas great save.
"Then the last one, a man who’s scored 26 league goals, he gets a one on one, he’s just got to caress it in but he goes for power and hits it over. The most intriguing part of the game, Bernardo Silva, if we stop it here he’s playing in midfield but in the defensive shape he’s at left back.
"When he’s in this position the first thing he’s thinking is ‘I’m a midfielder I’ve got to go out to the ball.’ But when you’re in a defensive line he can’t go there because he’s too late. Run it on, the ball goes into him and he’s out of the game, he leaves a massive space here on the wing.
"Laporte’s out of position, Rodri in the box doesn’t want to touch him because any touch is a penalty. Then Kyle Walker looking to see what’s around him and it’s a brilliant finish from Wood. But this game, I was watching it and it could’ve been six or seven so fair play to Nottingham Forest.”
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