Two goals in two dramatic second-half minutes consigned the Blues to a defeat that had looked highly unlikely in the preceding three-quarters of the game.
City’s Chilean boss could hardly contain his bewilderment in his post-match debrief as he tried to convey his pride at the performance against his disappointment at the result.
“Today we did all we could to win the game, we played well and then in five minutes, we lost it,” Pellegrini reflected.
“It’s incredible the way we lost this game.
“It’s hard to take, we played very well today, nothing like the way we played against Cardiff or Stoke, we played well and deserved another score but there’s a lot of reasons why it happened.
“It’s very difficult to explain football, as you said we controlled the ball, we had the advantage twice – the second goal was a beautiful free-kick – the third goal was incredible.
“That’s why I can’t believe we lost this match, especially the way we played.”
...Manuel Pellegrini...
City have now only taken one point from a possible nine in their three away Premier League assignments.
Pellegrini believes that this is a corner his team will soon turn in their quest for title glory.
“In five minutes we did what we did, before that we had possession, we had chances but we didn’t score,” the 60-year old reflected.
“In five minutes we did two things which threw away the match – we must concentrate for 90 minutes.
“We were winning, then Villa had one shot on our goal and they scored – football has these things. Maybe today we deserved more but football is like this.
“I hope that some day we will win away because this is the third game we’ve played and we haven’t won any.
“Tomorrow we have to think about Bayern Munich, it’s a pity to lose this point but we must keep working.
...Manuel Pellegrini...
“It’s always better to play in the Champions League when you have won the Premier League game before but the team is playing with trust and confidence so I hope we can do a good match again next Wednesday.
“In general, I was very happy with the way we played.”
