Saturday 30th March 2013 18:07
Roberto Mancini urged his Manchester City players to keep performing at the same level for the rest of the season after an emphatic 4-0 victory over Newcastle United.City's chances of defending their Premier League title appear extremely faint as they trail leaders Manchester United by 15 points with eight games left to play, but Mancini still expects a lot from his side as they aim to finish with a flourish.
And he was delighted with the way City shrugged off a slow start to defeat Newcastle thanks to goals from Carlos Tevez, David Silva and Vincent Kompany, as well as a James Perch own goal.
"They defended very well. It was difficult. Maybe we didn't have a good tempo in the first 20 to 25 minutes but after that we played quicker and scored a goal," Mancini told Sky Sports.
"If we play like this, we play very well. We have another eight games, and an FA Cup semi-final, and we need to continue playing like today."
Asked if City would be looking to win every remaining match this season, Mancini admitted it would be important to keep his squad fit.
He said: "We want to try, but we wanted this also two months ago. The Premier League is difficult and it is important that we don't lose players to injury for the next two months."
Mancini was pleased to see Kompany back in action for City, after he had played for Belgium in midweek against the club's wishes following a two-month injury lay-off.
"I don't think he is 100 per cent because it is his second game after 60 days out," said the City boss. "Maybe he needs to work more, but he is an important player for us."
No comments:
Post a Comment