Pellegrini hails Man City’s ‘fantastic month’ after cutting Arsenal’s lead

Manuel Pellegrini has hailed Manchester City’s “fantastic month” after closing the gap on leaders Arsenal to a point.

The Gunners had a six-point lead over the Citizens at the start of December but Pellegrini’s men have moved up to second following a run of six wins and a draw.

We won six from the last seven and that is very important for us to recover points from Arsenal

Manuel Pellegrini

Pellegrini, who replaced Roberto Mancini in the summer, is happy with the start of his Citizens reign after progressing in the Capital One Cup and Champions League, too.

“I think that it was a fantastic month for us. We played nine games during December; we won eight and drew just one,” Pellegrini said ahead of City’s New Year’s Day clash against Swansea.

“In the league, we won six from the last seven and that is very important for us to recover points from Arsenal who were six points ahead of us.

“It’s very important to finish the year in the position that we wanted to be. It’s always better to be first, but to recover six points in a month is a great thing.

“We continue also in the Capital One Cup and in the Champions League, so I think the first six months of the year was very good for us. Now in the second half, we try to win.”