Football
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Manuel Pellegrini: Manchester City had a 'bad day' against Stoke

Manuel Pellegrini believes Manchester City had a "bad day" as they slumped to a 1-0 defeat to Stoke City.

City's perfect start to the new Premier League campaign came to an end at the Etihad Stadium as Mame Biram Diouf scored the only goal of the game for the Potters.

Diouf netted his first goal for the club as he ran from deep inside his own half to nutmeg Joe Hart and hand Stoke the three points.

"I think we were a very patient team, we tried to create space but Stoke defended very well, and we couldn't create space," Pellegrini told a news conference.

"I think [in terms of] the attitude of the players, we did all we could do but it was a bad day for the creative players.

"It was too easy [for them] the way they scored the goal in a counter-attack, from a corner in their own box and he ran 70 metres to score.

"In these games it is very important to be patient but it is more important not to concede. They defended always with 10 strong players behind the ball.''

Pellegrini was frustrated about a late penalty incident involving Yaya Toure but did not want to make a big issue of it. The midfielder appealed for the spot kick after a challenge by Erik Pieters, but was instead booked for diving.

The City boss said: "What I think doesn't matter. I don't talk about the referee. All of you know it was a clear penalty. It doesn't matter. I don't want to analyse the game.''

Pellegrini would not be drawn on reports linking City with a loan move for Monaco striker Radamel Falcao before Monday's transfer deadline.

He said: "I am not talking about rumours. We have now 48 hours, we will see what happens.

"We have important restrictions about the amount of money we can spend and the number of players we can use, so it is not easy for us to bring in important players.''

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