Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini was unhappy with his side’s defending after it slumped to a 3-2 loss at Cardiff City on Sunday.

Pellegrini’s men – who started the season in style with a 4-0 thrashing of Newcastle United on Monday – were brought back down to earth in Wales by a fired-up Cardiff side.

Edin Dzeko put City in front in the 52nd minute, but Aron Gunnarsson leveled eight minutes later for Cardiff before Fraizer Campbell headed in two corners to seal a 3-2 victory, despite Alvaro Negredo’s late consolation.

When quizzed if his defense could have done better, Pellegrini told Sky Sports: “Of course. Nobody believes they can score two goals against us in a set piece. You must be concentrating on those sort of plays. We scored two goals but the game was decided by two corners.”

Pellegrini did acknowledge Cardiff made life tough for his side, but felt the visitors were too subdued in the first half before their defensive mishaps after the break.

“I think we played against a very difficult team,” he said. “Cardiff had 10 players near their own box  and it was very difficult for us to score. I think we didn’t play well. We played a little slowly in the first half. When we scored our first goal, I think we could do better after that.”

Pellegrini also rejected suggestions he would rush into the transfer window to bolster his defensive options.

Manchester City is currently without captain Vincent Kompany, who is set to miss the next four weeks with a groin injury but Pellegrini refused to Javi Garcia, who replaced the Belgian, for the surprise loss.

“No, no, no. I don’t think that [Garcia] was the problem,” he added. “Cardiff is a very difficult team, playing [on the] counter attack.  It was just two corners that decided the game.”

Aug 25 (Reuters) – Two goals from Fraizer Campbell handed Cardiff City a shock 3-2 victory over Manchester City on Sunday as the Premier League newcomers celebrated a memorable win in their first top flight match at home in 51 years.

Edin Dzeko had given the visitors the lead on 52 minutes, but Aron Gunnarsson levelled for the Premier League newcomers eight minutes later when following up a Joe Hart block.

Despite struggling to get the ball, Cardiff went ahead in the 79th minute when Hart failed to clear a corner, allowing Campbell to nod the ball home and he repeated the feat from another corner seven minutes later.

Alvaro Negredo pulled one back for Manchester City in injury time, but despite a couple of half-chances were unable to snatch a point at the death.

At White Hart Lane, a second Roberto Soldado penalty in as many weeks was enough to give Spurs a 1-0 win over Swansea City.

Spurs grabbed all three points after Andros Townsend went down under the challenge of Jonjo Shelvey on 58 minutes to give away the spot kick.

The result puts Spurs on maximum points after two matches, despite the absence of Gareth Bale, who was believed to have arrived in Spain on Saturday to finalise his world record transfer fee move to Real Madrid. (Reporting by Josh Reich, editing by Pritha Sarkar)

15 Luis Suarez (Liverpool)
14 Demba Ba (Chelsea)
13 Michu (Swansea City)
10 Edin Dzeko (Manchester City)
Rickie Lambert (Southampton)
Jermain Defoe (Tottenham Hotspur)
9 Gareth Bale (Tottenham Hotspur)
Romelu Lukaku (West Bromwich Albion)
8 Theo Walcott (Arsenal)
Marouane Fellaini (Everton)
Sergio Aguero (Manchester City)
Javier Hernandez (Manchester United)
Steven Fletcher (Sunderland)
7 Santi Cazorla (Arsenal)
Frank Lampard (Chelsea)
Juan Mata (Chelsea)
Fernando Torres (Chelsea)
Carlos Tevez (Manchester City)
Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)
Dimitar Berbatov (Fulham)