Manuel Pellegrini despite his error almost costing the
Premier League leaders against Norwich.
Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini defended Joe Hart
after an error from the England goalkeeper almost cost the
Premier League leaders in their 2-1 win over Norwich City.
Nicolas Otamendi broke the deadlock after 67 minutes at the
Etihad Stadium, powering home Kevin De Bruyne's corner for
his first goal for the club, but Norwich were level seven minutes
from time when Hart spilt a routine take from Robbie Brady's
cross to leave Cameron Jerome with a tap-in.
The mistake ultimately did not prove costly, as Yaya Toure
converted an 89th-minute penalty after Russell Martin was sent
off for blocking Raheem Sterling's goalbound shot with his arm
to keep Pellegrini's team ahead of Arsenal at the summit on
goal difference.
Hart, one of City's most consistent performers this season,
partially redeemed himself with a vital save from Martin Olsson
when the score was 2-1 and he retained his manager's backing
after the match.
Pellegrini told reporters: "It was unfortunate. Sometimes, these
things happen. Joe is human and he can make mistakes.
"Apart from that error, there were only two shots at him in the
game that he saved because he is a very good goalkeeper."
Following the blow of conceding an equaliser and the prospect
of being dislodged from top spot, Pellegrini was delighted
with the character shown by his players in securing a win that
could have been by a greater margin - only for Aleksandar
Kolarov to miss from 12 yards after Sterling won a second
penalty deep into stoppage time.
He said: "Norwich played very well. They defended the whole
game with 100 per-cent concentration and the chances that we
created, we missed.
"After we scored the goal from Nicolas Otamendi it opened up
the game but, unfortunately, Joe allowed them to draw.
"The last 10 minutes was the most important 10 minutes from
my team. We had the character, the personality and the trust to
go again for the game.
"We were not finished in the last minutes because we always felt
that we could score another goal.
"It is a relief because it is important not to drop points here at
home."
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