It’s no wonder Manuel Pellegrini was smiling after his side kicked off 2014 on a winning note with a 3-2 triumph over Swansea.
For a few hours at least, City sit on top of the Premier League after victory against a very good Swansea side who posed the Chilean’s side plenty of problems.
However, the Blues held on to win courtesy of goals from Fernandinho, Yaya Toure and Aleksandar Kolarov, much to the manager’s delight.
“I think it’s a very good result, Swansea are a good team at home, they’re very strong,” Pellegrini said.
“The way we won today is very important to us.
“I think that we had a really good first-half. We had control of the ball against a team where it’s difficult to have a lot of possession.
...Manuel Pellegrini...
“When we lost the away games earlier in the season we played in the same way. We conceded easy goals and we didn’t get the results. It’s not easy to play away – everyone always wants to play at home.
“It’s very important to be at the top of the table but there are more games to play and, as I’ve always said, at the end of the league I think there will be four or five teams fighting for the title.”
In particular, City’s second half performance pleased the 60-year old, though he was disappointed with the officials for not ruling out Bony’s first-half equaliser for offside.
“Their goal at the end of the first-half was offside and they grew with that goal,” Manuel argued.
“But my team kept trying to score the second goal and the third goal which is really good.
“It was a pity that they scored at the end. They scored right at the end which made the scoreline a little bit closer that it should have been but I repeat, Swansea are a very good team.”
Ivorian midfielder Yaya Toure was instrumental in the victory, scoring his twelfth goal of the season to put City back in front after Bony’s equaliser.
The African Footballer of the Year became the first City central midfielder to score ten Premier League goals in a season but he was quick to deflect the praise and pay tribute to his teammates and the opposition after the game.
“It was the perfect start to the year, we played against a good side who created a lot of problems but we did a fantastic job,” Toure smiled.
“The second goal was quite key, we played really well. We prepared realy well and we got our reward.
“Swansea are a good side but I think we deserved the win.
“I’m working hard and trying to help my teammates – I think today I was a little bit lucky but I am happy to be scoring goals.
...Yaya Toure...
“We continue to fight until the end – for the team and the club, we want to win this trophy and if we can play really well like we did today we’ll be really happy at the end of the season.”
Pellegrini’s Swansea counterpart Michael Laudrup was pleased with his team’s first-half performance but was disappointed with some of the defending that led to City’s goals.
“First half we were excellent, of course conceding three goals against a top team like City makes it tough to win,” Laudrup stated.
“I think we had more chances than them, the second goal got a big deflection off Ashley Williams but the third goal really hurt us when we trying to get back in the game.
“For me, it was a really soft goal to concede so I was very disappointed with that.
“Being the third game in six days it was tough – we got the second goal but it was too late.”
