Manager Manuel Pellegrini has said he was delighted with our victory over Watford today and our second half performance in particular that led us to ten consecutive wins and a new club record.
Audio – Performance Pleases Pellegrini
Speaking to the Official Site following the two nil win with goals coming from Sterling and Fernandinho, the gaffer explained that the first half was frustrating but he was thrilled with the turnaround after a few half time tweaks that saw Nasri replace Navas, and Sterling move into a second striker role alongside Sergio Aguero.
‘I think that we played this game in exactly the same way as the other three – as a very consistent team. We had four very different rivals but we found the solution for each to win the game. Watford defended very well in the first-half so we didn`t create many chances. I think that half-time was important to make the change. We had a lot of possession in the first half but didn`t create many chances. Making that change with Nasri on the left, a more-free David on the right and having Raheem close to Kun was the way we must try to do it and I`m happy that it worked.’
With City opening the gap wider with Chelsea and Liverpool dropping points today, Pellegrini wasn’t interested in that and instead turned the focus back on us, our performance and in particular Sterling.
‘I think that playing with creative players like Yaya, Nasri, Kun – Raheem will score goals. He`s not just a scoring player though, he works a lot in the game and is good at one-v-ones which is something we perhaps needed to improve upon. He`s demonstrating that he`s not an expensive player, he`s a good player.’
Skipper Vincent Kompany was also interviewed after the game, and he admitted we weren’t surprised to see Watford make it tricky for us in the opening period, but there was always the confidence that we would take victory as the game progressed.
‘Nothing surprises us – we knew exactly what the game was going to be like and on another day, we score earlier and things are different, but full credit to Watford who were well-drilled and organised. We dominated possession but that counts for nothing if you don`t score goals – that said, we adapted and changed things around at the break and that did the trick.’
Kompany also had praise for Sterling who scored his maiden Premier League strike for us following his summer arrival, but there was also praise for the whole team with the clean sheets we are keeping.
‘We are a very attacking team so it was never going to be a long time before he scored his first goal – the way we play we create a lot of chances but we`re all happy for him to get off the mark. We`ve started well and to keep four clean sheets is pleasing. I`m a defender by heart so not conceding goals from me is just as important as us scoring a lot of goals – on the other hand it`s nice to keep the goals going in and winning matches convincingly. The truth is that while we`ve made the best start possible, it means nothing at the moment because we`re only four games in. We have a long season ahead and want to do well in a lot of competitions so we need to keep going the way we have started.’
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