Phil Foden believes Manchester City's defense of the Premier League title is over after their late capitulation against Brentford on Tuesday.
Foden scored twice to put the Citizens 2-0 ahead at the Gtech Community Stadium, but goals from Yoane Wissa and Christian Norgaard secured a share of the win late on.
City have now dropped fourteen points from wins in the Premier League this season, their highest ever total in a league match under Pep Guardiola (previously thirteen in the 2020/21 and 2022/23 seasons).
In Tuesday's draw, the defending champions also failed to win a top-flight match in which they led by two or more goals for the first time since a 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace in December 2023, having scored 22 consecutive goals prior to tonight had won matches. .
Guardiola's team is sixth in the Premier League, twelve points behind leaders Liverpool, who also have a game in hand. Foden thinks that gap is too big to close.
“The title? Yes, yes, it's definitely done, it's done,” Foden replied when asked about his team's position at Eurosport.
“We are not stupid. So we have to aim for the top four. That is occasionally the next goal, of course also the Champions League. So it is not as if the season is over.”
“We have to be realistic, right? The performance wasn't good enough to get there.
“The top four is our target every now and then, to see where we can be in the other trophies. We can't dwell on it. We now have to try to chase the top four and put things right. “
City's poor run started with a 2–1 defeat to Tottenham in the EFL Cup in October, with the Citizens winning just one of their next ten games in all competitions.
Guardiola's side have since gone unbeaten in their first three games of the new year, but their performances have not been convincing enough to get them back into the title conversation.
However, Foden added that he was not used to being out of the title race at this stage, having been in contention in all but one season as a City player.
“I haven't been in this situation before where I've lost so many games and been in this situation,” he said.
“So it's a learning curve and it's about how to get back to your best, not just me, but the team as well. And how we come back from this.
“I believe, I still believe in the team, you know, I still believe that we can do good things.
“It's about getting back on the training pitch and having the belief that you have to keep going and not give up.
“We have been the best in recent seasons and when we face an opponent we can see how much he has to offer.
“And we have to try to match that, if not better, and we're a little bit short right now.”
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