Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany (L) reacts after conceding a penalty, as referee Mike Dean points to the spot during their English Premier League soccer match against Arsenal at the Etihad stadium in Manchester, northern England January 18, 2015.
Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany (L) reacts after conceding a penalty, as referee Mike Dean points to the spot during their English Premier League soccer match against Arsenal at the Etihad stadium in Manchester, northern England January 18, 2015. REUTERS/Darren Staples

Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini has attributed the home defeat to Arsenal to the lack of creativity of his attacking players. He thinks that City had good possession of the ball but failed to make use of it against a well-organised Arsenal side.

"We tried to play good football, had plenty of possession but we couldn't find the spaces we needed to create better opportunities and overall I don't think we played very well," Pellegrini said to give his overall assessment of the match. He was also not convinced that the penalty given against them merited the decision. He thought it was a soft penalty to give away and the goal that was subsequently scored as a result changed the game completely.

Pellegrini praised the Arsenal side for their unusual performance. He gave the gunners credit for defending very well for long stretches in the game. Two key players Vincent Kompany and Sergio Aguero retuned for this match but were rusty and could not exhort the influence that they usually have on matches. City missed the services of Yaya Toure who is out on international duty at the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations. Incidentally City have not won a match without Toure since April last year. The manager was however dismissive about the fact that his team is over reliant on Toure.

Pelligrini has now shifted his focus on the next Premier League match against the current league leaders Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. City are currently at second place trailing Chelsea by five points. The manager believes that it is imperative that City win at the capital and bring down the difference of points to two to sustain the pressure on Jose Mourinho's side.

City's Spanish midfielder Jesus Navas spoke to the official Manchester City's website to reflect on the match. He thought that the second goal ended all hopes for them to get anything out of the match. He believes that they were in the ascendency throughout the second half and the second goal was scored just at the worst time for his team.

To contact the author of this article email a.biswas@IBTimes.com.au

RELATED STORIES