Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini was critical of his players after the 2-1 defeat against Wigan in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. This defeat has knocked the team out of the competition, while also threatening to dismantle the season that promised so much only a few weeks ago. After winning the Capital One cup, it looked like City were heading to become the first English team to win the quadruple. There were in the Champions League last 16 stage, while they had promising positions in the Premier league and FA Cup as well.
However, things have turned sour since the 2-0 first leg defeat against Barcelona. They are on the verge of being knocked out of the Champions League while this latest defeat against Wigan raises more questions than answers. The club could be left only with the Premier league to fight for towards the end of the season if they do not overcome the first leg deficit on Wednesday night. Wigan were completely dominant in this match and they have beaten City for the second consecutive meeting in the FA Cup.
Pellegrini said that his players were to lackadaisical in the first half and it allowed Wigan to take a commanding lead before the hour mark. Even though City tried to come back in the second half, it was not enough.
“I think it’s the worst first half we’ve had in the year because we didn’t have the pace to play against a team that is in a good moment. They won five games in a row so we knew before the match we are going to play a difficult team, maybe we thought that was not going to be so difficult and when we react it was too late. We knew exactly how Wigan play; it’s not a tactical problem, it was a pace problem, a tempo problem,” said the Chilean.
