Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini blames tiredness for Newcastle draw
Wednesday 20 April 2016 12:52, UK
Manuel Pellegrini said his Man City players lacked the same energy that blew Chelsea away in their 1-1 draw with Newcastle.
Sergio Aguero scored his 100th Premier League goal as Pellegrini's men took a 14th-minute lead at St James' Park but Vurnon Anita levelled the contest on 31 minutes with a well-taken strike.
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Newcastle, buoyed by Saturday's victory over Swansea, pushed for a winner but they couldn't convert their positive performance into goals while City struggled to match the level of performance on show when they demolished Chelsea 3-0 on Saturday.
Pellegrini blamed the short turnaround between matches for his team's below-par energy levels.
"We knew before the game that it would be a tough game," he said.
"I didn't see the energy that we had on Saturday. It was too much repeating just three days after the Chelsea game. At the end of the season it's not easy for the players to recover 100 per cent. The team was also different as we made some changes that's why it wasn't the same as the previous game."
By finding the net, Aguero became the 25th player in Premier League history to score 100 goals in the competition.
Only Alan Shearer racked up 100 Premier League goals in fewer appearances (124) than Aguero and Pellegrini was pleased to see his star striker create history.
He said: "He deserves it. He makes such an important difference in games. He's a very technical player with a lot of power. I'm happy for him."
