Pellegrini deflects questions over Man City future following Manchester derby defeat

Posted Monday, April 13, 2015 by Talksport.co.uk

Manuel Pellegrini was forced to fend off questions about his future as Manchester City manager after his side found themselves on the end of an embarrassing derby defeat to rivals Man United.

The Blues were chasing a record fifth consecutive victory over their noisy neighbours ahead of Sunday's trip to Old Trafford, but instead slumped to their eighth loss of 2015.

City actually started the better of the two sides, rekindling the form which saw them lift the Premier League trophy last year and taking a deserved eighth minute lead through Sergio Aguero.

But the visitors, together with their last remaining hopes of defending their title, fell away after Ashley Young fortuitously pulled United level, with Marouane Fellaini, Juan Mata and Chris Smalling adding to the scoreline to hand the Red Devils three points before Aguero's late consolation.

Social media was abuzz with fans' frustration with the team and its manager, but Pellegrini refused to address questions over his future at the helm.

"I don't think what happens to me is the most important thing," said the Chilean, whose side now sit in fourth place, 12 points adrift of top flight leaders Chelsea.

"I will continue working and, with six more games, will try to be as near as the top of the table as we can."

"We played very well for the first 20 minutes and had two or three more clear chances to score, but the moment they scored they grew and started playing better and we made mistakes for two of their goals."

"Maybe the third goal [Mata capping a swift counter-attack with a clinical finish]was offside and something similar happened in the last game, but I'm not talking about referees."