Advertisement
Getty Images
tight

Premier League: Clean sheet the highlight for Mancini

It’s the first time the champions have held their opponents scoreless this season.

MANCHESTER CITY MANAGER Roberto Mancini was thrilled to see his side post their first clean sheet of the season in their 3-0 win over Sunderland.

Free-kicks from Alexander Kolarov and James Milner, either side of a Sergio Aguero goal, sent the champions on their way to a comfortable home win , with Joe Hart rarely tested throughout the afternoon.

The match also represented City’s first consecutive wins in the league this term and the Italian was satisfied with his charges’ improvement against Sunderland, after only winning one point against them last term.

“We are very happy, for the victory but also for the clean sheet,” Mancini told Sky Sports.

“There are sometimes when we were unlucky, we didn’t deserve to concede against Fulham, against Stoke, two strange goals. But now it’s important for Joe, Wednesday he was fantastic against Borussia (Dortmund). I enjoy it for him.

“Today, I think we had a very good performance. We played very well, didn’t take any risks and we scored three goals, but we missed another four or five.

“I’m happy with the performance, it was not easy. Sunderland is a good team and every time they play against us it’s a very difficult game. I think that all the players that played today played very well, I’m happy for them.”

The 47-year-old praised the impact of Sergio Aguero, who entered the match as a second-half substitute and netted City’s second goal just four minutes later.

“He’s fantastic,” he said. “His impact was fantastic, he scored one goal and had other chances.”

VIDEO: Want to see an assist to match Cantona’s perfect moment?

Mourinho: Ronaldo has good reason to be upset over Iniesta award