Manuel Pellegrini has fired a warning to league leaders Chelsea by declaring that his champions are back to their title-winning best.
Manchester City were impressive 4-1 winners at Sunderland on Wednesday night with Sergio Aguero (2), Steven Jovetic and father-to-be Pablo Zabaleta on target.
They fell behind to Connor Wickham’s 19th-minute effort on the ground where they have been beaten 1-0 on their last four visits.
But Aguero soon drew them level before teeing up Jovetic for a second. Zabaleta Рwho married fianc̩e Christel during the summer - celebrated news of her pregnancy with a classy third after the break and Aguero then stole in for his 19th of the season.
The striker's thumping shot was so powerful that it took Sunderland substitute Jozy Altidore by surprise – the American could be seen flinching before exclaiming: ‘Oh my God!’
It keeps the gap to Chelsea – 3-0 winners over Spurs – at six points.
And Pellegrini said: ‘We are returning to the form we showed last season, especially after we beat Bayern Munich (3-2 last month).
‘There is trust in the team, it is different now, we are getting our normal performances. When the team plays that way, with one touch, moving the ball quickly, we are going to return to being a top team.’
He went on: ‘Finally we have won here. For the last four years we couldn’t do it. We repeated the performance we showed against Southampton last weekend (won 3-0) and I’m very happy about that.’
Of Aguero, who won applause from the home crowd when he was substituted late on, he added: ‘I don’t know if there is a better striker in Europe. There are a lot of good strikers, but in the last few games I think he has shown he is one of the best five players in the world. It’s not just that he is scoring, he is also playing very well generally.’
Chelsea could only draw 0-0 at Sunderland at the weekend but remain odds-on favourites for the title.
Pellegrini, though, insists it is ridiculous to determine the champions before Christmas.
‘I’ve always said it is impossible to know who is going to be champions at this time of year when you still have to play 24 games,’ he said.
‘If we continue playing in this way, I’m sure we will be in the fight for the title. Chelsea are also playing very well, but I don’t think it will just be two teams fighting for the title. There will be three or four teams fighting for the title. Manchester United have won their last four games and Arsenal are coming again.’
Manchester City were impressive 4-1 winners at Sunderland on Wednesday night with Sergio Aguero (2), Steven Jovetic and father-to-be Pablo Zabaleta on target.
They fell behind to Connor Wickham’s 19th-minute effort on the ground where they have been beaten 1-0 on their last four visits.
But Aguero soon drew them level before teeing up Jovetic for a second. Zabaleta Рwho married fianc̩e Christel during the summer - celebrated news of her pregnancy with a classy third after the break and Aguero then stole in for his 19th of the season.
The striker's thumping shot was so powerful that it took Sunderland substitute Jozy Altidore by surprise – the American could be seen flinching before exclaiming: ‘Oh my God!’
It keeps the gap to Chelsea – 3-0 winners over Spurs – at six points.
And Pellegrini said: ‘We are returning to the form we showed last season, especially after we beat Bayern Munich (3-2 last month).
‘There is trust in the team, it is different now, we are getting our normal performances. When the team plays that way, with one touch, moving the ball quickly, we are going to return to being a top team.’
He went on: ‘Finally we have won here. For the last four years we couldn’t do it. We repeated the performance we showed against Southampton last weekend (won 3-0) and I’m very happy about that.’
Of Aguero, who won applause from the home crowd when he was substituted late on, he added: ‘I don’t know if there is a better striker in Europe. There are a lot of good strikers, but in the last few games I think he has shown he is one of the best five players in the world. It’s not just that he is scoring, he is also playing very well generally.’
Chelsea could only draw 0-0 at Sunderland at the weekend but remain odds-on favourites for the title.
Pellegrini, though, insists it is ridiculous to determine the champions before Christmas.
‘I’ve always said it is impossible to know who is going to be champions at this time of year when you still have to play 24 games,’ he said.
‘If we continue playing in this way, I’m sure we will be in the fight for the title. Chelsea are also playing very well, but I don’t think it will just be two teams fighting for the title. There will be three or four teams fighting for the title. Manchester United have won their last four games and Arsenal are coming again.’
No comments:
Post a Comment