Maresca further acknowledged that when Man City tried to respond to the setback, it was rather too late.
By Kehinde Okeowo
Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca has reflected on why his team lost 3-1 to Nottingham Forest on Saturday, admitting their match intensity was poor.
He made this known on Saturday night while reacting to the comprehensive loss on Sky Sports.
Jair Cunha scored the first goal of the match at the City Ground before Liam Delap lashed in the second to take the home side 2-0 up.
Although Rayan Cherki pulled one back, Delap scored his brace and finished off a blistering counter-attack with a thumping finish.
The defeat was their third successive loss in the Premier League, after they fell to Aston Villa and Brighton.
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Reacting, Maresca noted that his players didn’t win enough duels during the encounter, adding that it cost them the game.
He went on to say that when his team tried to respond to the setback, it was rather too late.
He said, “First half, when you don’t match intensity and lose all the duels, it’s difficult.
”Then, when we want to react, it’s too late. In this kind of match, you need to match intensity and win duels, otherwise it’s always complicated.
”Then, when we tried to react, we were 2-0 down, and in football, that is always complicated.”
