City banking on their experience

Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini expects his team to fight until the end in the title race.

And the Chilean hopes the side’s experience of past success will come to the fore as the chase for the Barclays Premier League crown hots up.

City bounced back from a run of three successive league defeats to revive their chances of a third title in five seasons by thrashing struggling Aston Villa 4–0 at the Etihad Stadium.

All the goals came in the second half, with Yaya Toure’s opener followed by a Sergio Aguero double and another effort from Raheem Sterling.

Pellegrini, whose side remains fourth in the table, said: “I said last week all the teams will lose points from now until the end of the season.

“It is the way you arrive at the end that decides whether the pressure will be more. We have more experience and that will be very important. We need to close that gap.

“We need the other teams to lose points, we are not just dependent on what we do, but we are sure we are going to take every game as a final. I am sure we are going to be involved in the title race to the end. I think this team has the experience to try to do it.”

Aguero's display — he also missed a penalty and a handful of other chances — made a huge difference.