“For 13 games we were the leaders so I expect that we have a very good team”. I don’t think it was that hard to get the players concentrated on this game because it’s another three points.
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“He has just come back in from an injury to his calf and he played the whole game in the Champions League and the whole game today”.
There is plenty to work on when skipper Vincent Kompany is out of the side, as without him they appear insecure and prone to errors, which Stoke City totally exploited in their last Premier League outing, after which Pellegrini must have been relieved that he was not left to reflect on a thrashing.
“For me, it would have been very important to keep a clean sheet and win 1-0”. Without the last two minutes, maybe we would have won 1-0.
That sequence has left the Welsh side just a point above the relegation zone but, after Monk guided them to eighth last season, Pellegrini does not think the manager is to blame.
“He showed today what a great player he is”.
The Swansea had another chance in the 15th minute, as Routledge did well to pick out Gylfu Sigurdsson, who forced Hart into another fine save from 12-yards out.
On a subdued day in England’s top division, Romelu Lukaku scored for the sixth league game in a row for Everton in a 1-1 draw at Norwich and another in-form striker, Odion Ighalo, grabbed Watford’s victor in a 1-0 victory at Sunderland. The midfielder tapped in Yannick Bolasie’s cross on 38 minutes for his sixth goal of the season, with Palace now just three points off the top four thanks to the 1-0 win. Wes Hoolahan equalised for the struggling Canaries.
Defensively, the Citizens have quite a few chinks in their armour and will look upon the central defence of Nicolas Otamendi and Eliaquim Mangala to perform better than they have this season and not only rely on goalkeeper Joe Hart getting them out of trouble.
However four minutes later Swansea did get their goal, Gomis smashing the ball past Hart at the near post.
“We are bitterly disappointed to come away empty-handed, but that performance is the standard”, said Swansea’s caretaker manager Alan Curtis.
Pellegrini sounded only partially satisfied with the victory.
“Swansea played very well and it’s not the way we want to win”. “Yes, of course, I always say the most important thing is to win but I think to win the most amount of games you have to try to play well”, he said.
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There have been 28 fixtures between the two sides over the years, with City winning a staggering 18 of them and the Swans winning on seven occasions, while the remaining three games have ended as draws.
