Phil Foden insists 'no excuses' for 'tired, leggy' Manchester City after dramatic Premier League draw at Brentford

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Phil Foden struck his first brace of the season, but it was not enough to prevent Brentford coming from behind to draw 2-2 with the Premier League champions. The Manchester City star put their late capitulation down to fatigue, but insisted there were "no excuses", even after a busy festive period. Pep Guardiola blamed poor decision-making in the attacking third for the disappointing draw.

'We just looked tired' - Foden questions City physicality after Brentford draw

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Phil Foden said there were "no excuses" for Manchester City dropping two points away at Brentford on Tuesday night, as Christian Norgaard’s late equaliser earned a 2-2 draw.

A second-half brace from the Englishman had put the Premier League champions into a commanding 2-0 lead with 12 minutes remaining of normal time.

But Yoane Wissa’s composed finish and Norgaard’s 92nd-minute header brought the roof down at the Gtech Community Stadium and left City with just a point to show for their efforts.

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Foden admitted that the visitors "looked leggy" in the final period of the game, but refused to blame the hectic festive period for their fatigue.

"We just looked tired at the end, the last 20, 30 minutes," Foden told TNT Sports. "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.

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"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."

"We're used to it for many years, we've been playing the majority of the competitions and playing every three days so it's something the squad are quite used to, no excuses."

After a galling run of one win in 13 games, Manchester City picked up three wins on the spin for the first time since late October.

But the trio of victories against Leicester City, West Ham and Salford City could not be extended to four, in spite of an uptick in performance levels.

Foden believes that City have shown clear improvement since Christmas, forcing six saves from Brentford keeper Mark Flekken and having 21 shots in total.

"It's definitely picked up from previously and performances are a lot better than they were," said Foden.

"We've still got steps to go to where we want to be but as long as we keep making small steps and improving, that's what we're aiming to do."

Guardiola ‘disappointed’ with Brentford draw, questions Man City’s decision-making

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Guardiola laments poor decision-making for lead slip

Visiting boss Pep Guardiola criticised his side’s decision-making in the 2-2 draw and said that his side’s inability to score more than two was the main reason they could not hold on for the win.

Even though City enjoyed 55% of the possession, Brentford still managed 18 shots and accumulated a higher xG (expected goals} than their opponents - 2.47 to 2.10.

But Guardiola was more concerned with his team's inability to finish off their own chances, with Matheus Nunes one such culprit when he failed to shoot bearing down on goal in the first half.

"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."

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