Pellegrini praises Man City character after late win- PREMIER LEAGUE

  

 

 

Pellegrini praises Man City character after late win

Lampard's late header clinches Manchester City victory after Sunderland rallied from 2-0 down

Costel Pantilimon is unable to stop Frank Lampard heading in Man City's winner

Manuel Pellegrini was bemused by his Manchester City side's struggle to hold on to a two-goal lead at home for a second match in a row but praised their character for emerging 3-2 winners over Sunderland.

Goals from the former City players, Jack Rodwell and Adam Johnson, had cancelled out efforts from Yaya Toure and Stevan Jovetic at the Etihad Stadium, but, unlike in their draw with Burnley on Sunday, City were able to have the final say as Frank Lampard's late header helped his side to maximum points that drew them level with Chelsea at the top of the table. 

"We scored two beautiful goals with great movement but after that it is difficult to understand," Pellegrini, the City manager, said. "Maybe the corner I can understand because they have very tall players and are very dangerous from set-pieces.

"The penalty was too easy for them, but once again this team had the personality and character to go for the third goal. We had three or four clear chances to score more goals and in that sense [Sunderland goalkeeper Costel] Pantilimon was their best player."

Pellegrini also played down the importance of catching Chelsea. The two are level on points, goal difference, goals scored and head-to-head results, following the Blues' 5-3 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday evening.  

"We are not trying to win to keep the pressure on Chelsea, we try to win to keep playing the way we are doing so far," he said. "At the end of the season we'll see who has more points but it is not to make pressure for Chelsea it is just to win our games."

'Clever' Lampard sinks Sunderland

Sunderland head coach Gus Poyet praised City's "clever" signing of Frank Lampard after the 36-year-old's precise header. City confirmed on the eve of the match that Lampard's stay at the Etihad Stadium had been extended until the end of the season and Poyet, who played with the midfielder during his time as a player at Chelsea, hailed his impact as a substitute.

"He made a difference today by scoring the winning goal,” Poyet said. 

Sunderland's fightback from two goals down evoked memories of last season's 2-2 draw in the corresponding fixture as Poyet's side launched an unlikely escape from relegation. Although delighted with the spirit shown by his side in pegging the champions back, Poyet was disappointed by their failure to see out the job.

"When you're playing away against the champions and you find yourself 2-0 down you need to do something very special to come back," he said. "And after coming back we needed to do better. The disappointing side of the performance today is after the 2-2. The last 15 minutes we gave the goal away too easily.

"We made it difficult and they were getting to the point of frustration and then with the change you have more options on the break and fresh legs and then he [Lampard] scores because he does things that no one else can."

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Pos	Club	Pld	Pts
1	Chelsea	20	46
2	Man City	20	46
3	Man Utd	20	37
4	Southampton	20	36
5	Spurs	20	34
6	Arsenal	20	33
7	West Ham	20	32
8	Liverpool	20	29
9	Swansea	20	29
10	Newcastle	20	27
11	Stoke	20	26
12	Aston Villa	20	22
13	Everton	20	21
14	Sunderland	20	20
15	Hull	20	19
16	QPR	20	19
17	West Brom	20	18
18	Crystal Palace	20	17
19	Burnley	20	17
20	Leicester	20	14