Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini is disheartened following his side’s disappointing performance but insists the Citizens can still qualify to the next stage, after they went down 2-1 against CSKA Moscow in the their Champions League group stage fixture at the Etihad Stadium last night.
A Seydou Doumbia header in the opening minutes of the game put the Russians in the lead. Though Yaya Toure did score an equaliser off a free kick in the eight minute, another Doumbia strike in the 34th minute sealed the game for the Militarians in the first half.
Toure and Fernandinho were both sent off in the second half of the game, and the Premier League’s reigning champions never got a chance to recuperate as a nine-men City lost yet another game in the European tournament and are now on the verge of elimination with just two points in four outings so far.
“It’s difficult to understand why we put in such a low performance. We just played a good game against Manchester United, we had our chances to win here at home, but if you give away two goals in the first half and you really don’t play with the ball, then it’s very difficult to win”, Pellegrini said via UEFA’s official website.
Currently occupying the lowest spot in the group table, the Sky Blues have a slim chance of making it to the knock outs of the Champions League even if they win their final two games against Bayern Munich and AS Roma, but the Chilean manager insists they will fight hard for qualification despite the odds.
“Of course if you have mathematical possibilities to qualify you must fight for them. First we have to play against QPR, then there is the international break; after that we are going to try to qualify for the next stage. It’s more difficult now but not impossible”, the 61-year-old added.
