Pellegrini is relieved to see off dogged Baggies
PARITY in Paris may well have been cause for optimism for Manchester City in midweek, but a draw with West Brom would not have been viewed quite so positively at a sodden Etihad yesterday.
It was heading that way for more than an hour until Samir Nasri celebrated his first start in nearly seven months with the winner; the Frenchman ensuring that City did not suffer a damaging Premier League setback in between their two Champions League quarter-final ties with Paris Saint-Germain.
Instead, Manuel Pellegrini’s side stretched their advantage over fifthplaced Manchester United to four points and closed the gap on Arsenal in third, to two.
City’s ninth straight league win over West Brom was certainly hard-fought.
The visitors took the lead against the run of play in the sixth minute.
Stephane Sessegnon, once of PSG, started the counter-attack by bursting clear of two opponents, and the ball was fed wide to James McClean on the left. His cross into the box was a little wayward but Sessegnon managed to retrieve it 25 yards from goal.
There still seemed little danger as Aleksandar Kolarov closed down the West Brom forward, but he was somehow allowed to whip a fierce drive inside the near post that caught a static Joe Hart by surprise.
City continued to dominate and they equalised in the 19th minute.
Kolarov played the ball in from the left touchline to Nasri and went for the return pass, but was brought down in the box by a clumsy challenge from Sessegnon.
Sergio Aguero was never going to miss the penalty.
City finally scored the winner after 66 minutes. Aguero’s effort was blocked at close range, but the ball ran for Nasri to slip the ball through James Chester’s legs on the line.
Relief for City but job done. Now thoughts can turn back to PSG.
‘It was a very important result for us because we knew West Ham and Arsenal drew,’ said Pellegrini afterwards. ‘We knew it would be a difficult game because West Brom were not fighting for anything.’