United – depleted by a wretched run of injuries to senior players – conceded directly from a corner in the second minute on its way to a humbling 2-1 loss at Bournemouth, the latest shock result in a season of surprises in the Premier League. I always say that it must not be an obsession to win the Champions League.
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Swansea have failed to score in seven of their last 11 Premier League games, including four of their last five.
Manchester City progressed in style in the Champions League, beating Borussia Monchengladbach 4-2 at the Etihad, and will now look to concentrate on the Barclays Premier League where they have fallen three points of the pace.
In an early morning clash at the Etihad Stadium, Manchester City were able to pick up an important three points in a 2-1 victory over Swansea City in the Barclays Premier League.
“It’s a very important title, and lovely to do it. But you must not try to win the Champions League and lose focus on the Premier League”.
But he was adamant that his team can climb the table, with the Swans a point above the relegation zone and poised to appoint a new manager before their home game against West Ham on 20 December.
As well as looking tired, City were again without injured key pair Vincent Kompany and Sergio Aguero and De Bruyne hopes the longer gap before facing Arsenal a week on Monday will prove beneficial. Pellegrini added: “I don’t think the leaders after the first half of the season will have 40 points”.
“Every season is different”.
To achieve his primary aim, Pellegrini believes that City could win the league with less than 80 points, such is the fierce competition in the top flight.
They forced some decent saves from Joe Hart, who was named man of the match, after Ivorian Bony, bought by City from Swansea for 30 million pounds at the start of the year, put them ahead in the 26th minute.
With such a cluster of teams near the top as we approach the halfway point in the season, the Blues coach does not see the best team this year scaling the same heights.
“Clean sheets have been hard come by recently and I’ve had some busy games when I’ve ended up letting in two, three goals”, said Hart.
City survived a scare in the final few minutes when Sigurdsson lashed home after Gomis had collided with Hart, only for the goal to be ruled out for a foul on the home goalkeeper that was far from evident. “We can at least take heart from the performance”.
“When we equalised just before the end, I thought we were going to hang in there. We have 100% belief that we can get out of trouble”.
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“We really didn’t play well, and Swansea had a very good game”.
