Manuel Pellegrini has come out in support of his Manchester City players following the poor defeat away at Burnley on Saturday, courtesy of a late volley from George Boyd. City looked sluggish throughout the game and it could be argued that they wouldn't have deserved even a point. Pellegrini however, was of a different opinion.
"I think it was a normal performance,” he said. “Not one of our best, the result indicates that. We tried to give everything but we did not have a good day. We didn’t play well enough and we need to improve. The results are wrong, because we are not winning the games we normally do. Because we don’t score."
Much has been made of the gap in financial strength between the two sides, as City are reknowned for high spending thanks to their Abu Dhabi owners. Burnley, on the other hand, have the lowest wage budget in the division and barely spent any money last summer. Pellegrini preferred to talk up the strength of the division when asked about the gulf in spending power.
"Football is not all about money, It is an important thing but we know any team can beat another in the Premier League. We needed to make more chances against Burnley, because they only made one and it won them the game."
Chelsea replied to City's loss with a 1-1 draw against Southampton, extending their lead over the Champions to six points with an additional game in hand. Many are now claiming that the title is gone, and that City must look over their shoulders at the likes of Arsenal and Manchester United. The Chilean agrees that winning the title will now be very hard, but refuses to rule his side out.
“The chances for the title are now far, but we must continue fighting for our position. Every point we drop makes it more difficult to come back at Chelsea and win the league, all we can do from here is try our best to win the next game, I will not give up on the title until it is mathematically impossible, but this result makes winning more difficult."