Manchester City huffed and puffed through to the finish line, pipping Norwich City 2-1 in the end, but goalkeeper Joe Hart’s mistake almost cost them two points and the lead in the Premier League table.
However, manager Manuel Pellegrini believes that the England international is still one of the best keepers around, and this was just a one-off incident.
Manchester City took the lead through a superb Nicolas Otamendi header, but an 86th minute mistake by goalkeeper Joe Hart gifted Norwich striker Cameron Jerome with an easy opportunity to level proceedings. However, Pellegrini’s side turned on the heat in the last few minutes to earn a penalty, which Yaya Toure converted expertly to restore the lead and send City back on top of the Premier League table.
“Joe Hart and all the players are human, they make mistakes,” Pellegrini was quoted as saying by Sky Sports. “It doesn’t matter, we won the game, maybe if we lost the two points, we would talk to him, and give him trust that he has saved us a lot of other games. I think that Joe is very strong, a good professional.
“Of course, he’s not happy but these things happen, and we don’t need to talk with him because he knows what we think of his performance.”
This result takes Manchester City back on top of the Premeir League, tied on the same number of points as Arsenal (25). However, City are still ahead by virtue of their superior goal difference.
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Unhappy Yaya Toure storms away before full time
The mighty Ivorian might have scored the winner against Norwich City, but he was not altogether happy with his manager Manuel Pellegrini after being substituted in the 94th minute.
As it was becoming a close affair after Toure put the Citizens in front, Pellegrini sought to defend the one-goal lead in the dying few seconds of the match, and brought on defender Martin Demichelis to replace Toure.
However, the 32-year-old midfielder was seen arguing with his manager after being subbed out of the match, as he stormed his way down the tunnel. The Ivorian has said previously this season that he is “unhappy” at Manchester City.
However Pellegrini later came out in the media and doused the flames by saying that his iconic midfielder was quite happy at the Manchester club, and that whatever “unhappiness” he might have was mostly due to the criticism he received after moving from FC Barcelona to Manchester City.