Pellegrini: Title race not over

Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini insists the Premier
League title race is far from over, but admitted his side
lacked creativity in their 2-0 defeat by Arsenal.
A 2-0 loss at the Etihad leaves City five points adrift of
league leaders Chelsea, ahead of the two clubs' meeting
on Saturday Night Football at the end of the month, but
Pellegrini remains confident his side can still close the
gap.
"I don't think that this is finished," Pellegrini told Sky
Sports . "Even if we don't win or we draw (against Chelsea
later this month), we can continue fighting because in
football, you never know.
"It was a long way to recover the eight points Chelsea had
on our team, and now they're five points ahead, it will be
a decisive game. We'll try to prepare, try to win the game
and try to close that gap again."
Arsenal opened the scoring in the first half from Santi
Cazorla's penalty, after Vincent Kompany was adjudged to
have brought down Nacho Monreal - a decision which left
Pellegrini unimpressed.
"I don't want to talk about the penalty as I think it
changed the game, but was not the decisive reason why
we lost," the Chilean said.
"Before the penalty we have the possession of the ball, we
play near their box and they don't really have any clear
chances to score during the whole game.
"For me, it was not a penalty, but the moment from
Kompany that allows him (Monreal) to go to dive was
unnecessary."
Olivier Giroud added a second for the Gunners in the
second half, while City struggled to test Arsenal keeper
David Ospina as the hosts failed to score for only the
second time this season.
"The decisive thing was because we were not a creative
team," Pellegrini added. "We had a lot of time on the ball
but didn't really create the chances to score.
"I think they (Arsenal) played very concentrated, defending
very well. Arsenal had merit in this game, but I think we
are a better team on the ball than how we played today.
"We ran through the whole game, pressed and recovered
the ball very well, but after that we didn't have any ideas
how to create the space in their defence."
Courtesy: skysports news
Broadcast by Obele Calistus