Manchester City’s Yaya Toure (right) defending possession from West Brom’s Craig Gardner, at The Hawthorns, yesterday.
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Bony and Aleksandar Kolarov saw efforts denied by last ditch WBA interventions, and £49million summer signing Raheem Sterling should have written his name on the scoresheet just before half-time, but finished disappointingly when one-on-one with Baggies stopper Boaz Myhill. Silva almost earned credit for the first goal of the campaign, as it appeared he got a slight touch on the shot from Yaya Toure, before the ball slowly spilled over the goal line.
And Pellegrini reckons, after a stuttering season last year, Ivory Coast star Toure will shine in the Barclays Premier League again.
Manchester City coach Manuel Pellegrini discusses his team’s performance against West Brom and says he believes that we will see the same Yaya Toure from two seasons ago, when he was at his best. I know exactly how the owners think.
“But it must have been hard for him but he will be the player that I am sure we have bought”. “He started with a lot of problems, the death of his brother, his agents, I think he was not focused maybe on what he had to do past year”.
West Brom manager Tony Pulis took the unusual step of admitting he alone was to blame for the defeat. He is a very important player. West Brom manager Tom Pulis asked for more aggressive play from his squad after a disappointing start to the season and hopeful of making a strong comeback with the arrival of their own record signing, Venezuela forward Salomon Rondon.
A minute before, though, Sterling should have marked his debut with a goal when Toure put him clean through, only for Myhill to save his low weak effort. I can’t wait to be with the other players and to play. “I played Saido and Rickie and that left the midfield too open”.
City kept Albion at bay until three minutes from half-time, when Berahino clipped over Joe Hart only to be ruled offside.
“I take responsibility for the way we set up”.
Captain Vincent Kompany added a third and the Belgian said he was keen to banish memories of a poor season on a personal and team level and send a message to those who were discounting City as credible title challengers.
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“The pivotal moment was the time I decided to play two up front and not the extra one in midfield and you go away from what you’ve always stuck by”.
