English premier League – (1) Chelsea 1-1 Manchester City (2)
Reactions from Chelsea side:
‘We scored on 41 minutes and it would have been a good moment for us to go in at half-time with 1-0. But City showed they are very strong, they never give up and scored in the last minute of the first half.
‘We expected three points, but I think the draw is a good result for both teams. We had some chances, they had some chances but it’s the same, a five-point difference and we are happy because of that and I hope we will continue.’
Oscar also said Chelsea aimed to win but are not upset with a draw.
‘One point against City is okay because everyone was a little bit tired,’ pointed out the Brazilian.
‘Of course you play for three points but one point for us is important because we stay top of the league and five points in front.
‘Against Liverpool everyone played so good and so hard and this game was the same. The team played good against Man City who have fantastic players and 1-1 is okay.’
‘I am happy with how we played because we gave our best.
‘We had against Liverpool a hard game and played 120 minutes. We felt it especially in the last 20 minutes of the game today.
‘It was very difficult to run with City players because they were more fresh than us but everyone gave 100 per cent.’
Reactions from Manchester City coach – Pellegrini:
“We have to play 45 points more, it was important for our team to try and close that gap to two points, but it was impossible, but I repeat we did all we could: personality, football, intention, possession.
“But I think that this game will be important for our team because we will recover our normal standard of play.
I’m not happy with the point, I’m happy with the way my team played today because we had the personality to go for three points from the beginning.
“We had three clear chances in the first half, one very good save from Courtois, others that we missed.
“They scored from the only chance that they had during the 90 minutes, the second half they didn’t have a shot on our goal – I think there was just one team from the beginning that wanted to win.
“If you say it’s a good point at Stamford Bridge, maybe, it’s a good point in the way we played for 95 minutes, but it’s not a good point because we had a better performance than Chelsea.”
