Manuel Pellegrini
believes 75 points will
be enough to win the
Premier League after
declaring that his
Manchester City side
are still firmly in the
title race.
City ended a run of
three straight league
defeats by thrashing bottom club Aston Villa
4-0 at Eastlands on Saturday.
It took Pellegrini's fourth placed team to 50
points with another 30 still to play for over
their final 10 matches to be champions.
Leaders Leicester are 10 points clear of City,
but Pellegrini feels his players have the
experience to overhaul Leicester and title
rivals Tottenham and Arsenal with a
dramatic late surge to rival their Premier
League triumph in 2014.
"All the teams will lose points between now
and the end of the season. As you approach
the end of the season, the pressure will
increase," Pellegrini said.
"We have more experience than the other
teams, and that will be very important. We
need to close that gap.
"We need to beat Norwich next Saturday,
and then after that we need to win the next
game.
"It is impossible to guess how many points
we need to win this title but I am sure it will
be around 75."
Yaya Toure opened the scoring and Raheem
Sterling completed the win, while in
between, Sergio Aguero scored twice to
take his total for the season to 21 in a City
win that was convincing in the end, despite
a frustrating and goalless first half.
Aguero has started 20 of City's 28 Premier
League matches this season, but has been
absent with injuries at important stages, as
have fellow key players such as Vincent
Kompany and David Silva.
DOOMED TO RELEGATION
"I always say it is a team game not an
individual game, but of course there are
players who are very important," Pellegrini
said.
"Sergio makes a difference. That's why
maybe three weeks ago, when we lost
against Leicester and Tottenham, I said it
was a credit to the squad to be fighting for
the title with so many important players like
Kompany, Silva and Kun injured.
"Of course, when you have your best
players, it is better for the team. When you
don't have them, you need your squad. But
if you ask me, I always want to play with
Sergio the way he played today."
Villa look doomed to relegation, sitting nine
points adrift of a position of safety with
nine games to play.
Manager Remi Garde has taken 12 points
from 18 games since his appointment last
November, and has been forced to deny
claims of a dressing room split at the club.
He feels that his reputation as a manager,
built in France at Lyon, remains strong,
though and was pleased with the way his
side kept City at 0-0 before they conceded
two goals in the first five minutes of the
second half.
"I am very confident in my management. I
have no problem with that. I have problems
but not with my own management," he said.
"We were playing away to a team who can
win the Champions League and we are
bottom. To be too attacking would have
been suicidal.
"Everybody was pleased with the way we
played in the first 45 minutes. We wanted to
play the same way and try to exploit one or
two opportunities.
"The first goal was a big blow, and the
second one straight after the first one was a
big blow. The second half was very difficult."
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Pellegrini sets City 75 points title targetCreated at
2016-03-06 07:06:58