Manuel Pellegrini praises Man City keeper Pantilimon and refuses to confirm Joe Hart will return against Norwich
Manuel Pellegrini praises Man City keeper Pantilimon and refuses to confirm Joe Hart will return against Norwich
Pantilimon put in a solid performance for Manchester City against
Newcastle, and Joe Hart may struggle to win back his place in the side
That could Costel Joe: Pantilimon's performance could keep Hart out of the side
Laurence Griffiths
Manuel Pellegrini refused to reassure England No1 Joe Hart of his Manchster City starting berth last night - as his side brushed aside Newcastle.
Hart watched on miserably from the bench as City strode into the last eight thanks to goals from Alvaro Negredo and Edin Dzeko.
The England No 1 watch as his rival for the City keeper's shirt
Costel Pantilimon kept his side in the game with a brilliant extra time
save from Papiss Cisse, and turned in a solid performance.
Hart now faces an anxious wait to see if he gets a recall for the Premier League clash against Norwich at the weekend, with Pantilimon in the driving seat to keep his place.
And boss Pellegrini added: "Costel is a very good goal keeper. He
normally plays in the Capital One Cup and the FA Cup. Is he in
contention now? From tomorrow I will think about the Norwich game. We
will talk to the goal keepers tomorrow. Only one can play and whoever
does not will have our full support."
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Laurence Griffiths
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Newcastle United v Manchester City
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Pellegrini's side took charge with Negredo tapping home his fifth of
the season for City after 99 minutes, with Edin Dzeko the creator.
Dzeko then added a second after 105 minutes, rounding Time Krul to score and finish the game.
The clubs fought out an even contest in normal time with precious few
chances. Krul produced a fine save from Negredo in the last two minutes
to send the game into extra time, but Newcastle faded.
Cisse had a brilliant chance to seal the game for Newcastle in extra
time, freed by a superb pass from Hatem Ben Arfa, but Pantilimon was up
to the job.
Pellegrini will be pleased his shadow squad, which included ten
changes from the defeat to Chelsea, saw the game out, but they laboured
at times.
The pressure will grown on Newcastle having now lost in the cup
following their derby defeat to Sunderland. It doesn't get any easier
with Chelsea visiting St James's Park on Saturday.
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