Capital One Cup: Pellegrini sets eyes on more trophies after Wembley win
AT WEMBLEY STADIUM
MANCHESTER CITY 3 SUNDERLAND 1
MANCHESTER City manager Manuel Pellegrini yesterday won his first trophy since joining the club, yet insisted he will not be satisfied unless the Sky Blues claim more silverware before the end of May.
Fabio Borini gave Sunderland an early lead, putting City in danger of a repeat of last season’s Wembley nightmare when they lost the FA Cup final to Wigan. Yet two second-half strikes in two minutes from Yaya Toure and Samir Nasri eased their nerves, and Jesus Navas’s late finish secured the Capital One Cup victory. But Pellegrini, who joined City last summer, has his sights on bigger prizes.
“We won just one trophy today, I don’t think anybody can think that’s enough. [But] it gives us a lot of confidence. We are the only club that has the chance to continue trying to win all the competitions. If you have the chance to win the first, you must do it, so it was very important for us to win,” Pellegrini said.
“We want to beat Wigan on Saturday, then we will be in the semi-final again here at Wembley in the FA Cup. You can never be satisfied with just one trophy with so many good players.”
Pellegrini praised a Sunderland team that made life difficult for his stars, while Sunderland boss Gus Poyet also had kind words for his men.
“I wanted to see my team, and I saw my team today. So I’m proud of them. We tried our best,” Poyet said.
Sunderland goalkeeper Vito Mannone had his gloves stung early on by a fierce Sergio Aguero drive from 20 yards, but just a minute later his side went ahead. Attempting to deal with a long ball, Vincent Kompany hit his clearance against Borini, allowing the Italian in on goal from where he drilled low into the far post.
Borini snuck in behind the opposition backline again shortly before the break, but Kompany sprinted back to prevent the lead being doubled.
City stormed out of the traps after half-time and found a breakthrough before the hour mark. The ball was patiently passed around and came to Toure who, despite being nearly 30 yards out, curled a superb looping shot beyond Mannone’s fingertips and into the top corner of the net.
Buoyed by the goal, City were ahead within a minute. Aleksander Kolarov’s pulled-back cross came to Nasri who struck a shot with the outside of his boot that swerved inside the post.
The Sky Blues seemed to be in control, yet may have lost the lead when a chance fell to Steven Fletcher in the box late on. However, the substitute miscontrolled the ball completely.
And in stoppage time City broke free, Toure playing in Navas who side-footed past Mannone to seal the win.