Manuel Pellegrini has set his sights on more glory after Manchester City landed the League Cup with a penalty shootout win over Liverpool at Wembley.
After Philippe Coutinho had cancelled out Fernandinho’s opener, extra time could not separate the two sides. But keeper Willy Caballero stepped up when it mattered most to land his boss at least one trophy in his farewell season at the club, making three saves as City won 3-1 on spot-kicks.
With City fourth in the Premier League and poised for a place in the Champions League quarter-finals after a 3-1 last-16 first leg win over Dynamo Kiev, Pellegrini said: “It is important to continue trusting in what we are doing.
“We have to play for another 36 points yet so we are not going to give up. We made a huge step for the Champions League and winning this title gives us a lot of trust.
“I’m very happy, not because it is my final season, I’m happy for a lot of things. I’m happy for the performance of the team, we played against a difficult team in Liverpool, we lost [4-1] to them at the Etihad. I’m very happy for Willy Caballero, I think he deserved his moment.”
Caballero’s contribution also left Pellegrini vindicated in his decision to stick with him for the final ahead of regular No. 1 Joe Hart.
“If you are sure you are going to win it, I would want to win it in this way with Willy being the hero,” he added. “Willy is a very good goalkeeper. He waited until the end and never tried to guess which side they were going to shoot. That is why he saved those three penalties.”
City face Liverpool again on Wednesday in the league as they try to cut back Leicester’s lead at the top, with the Foxes nine points ahead albeit having played one more game than Pellegrini’s side.
Reds boss Jurgen Klopp said his players will have to bounce back.
“We have so many games, do you think I go home and close the door and stay there for four weeks?” he said. “You have to feel a defeat. It is how it is. You know you can fall down but you have to stand up. Only silly idiots stay on the floor and wait for the next defeat, we will strike back 100 per cent.”
Klopp also revealed why striker Daniel Sturridge was not one of his penalty takers.
“He had cramp in the last few minutes and could not walk – it was no option, everyone who was available took a penalty,” he added.
