Manchester City winger Jesus Navas believes their lack of intensity saw them lose ground on Chelsea in the Premier League this weekend.
City headed to the Boleyn Ground in the midday kick-off on Saturday but ran out 2-1 losers to Sam Allardyce’s rejuvenated West Ham.
The current champions now lie six points behind Jose Mourinho’s side and Navas claimed his side were unfortunate to lose to the Hammers.
“We just have to be in the mind-set that we are going to be winning games. We must remain positive,” he told CityTV.
“We just need to keep going. There are plenty of games left. We just have to continue playing.
“We had plenty of opportunities against West Ham, we were just unlucky.”
Manuel Pellegrini’s men headed into the game on the back of three straight league wins though had travelled to CSKA Moscow in the Champions League midweek.
They fell behind after 21 minutes when Morgan Amalfitano put the home side ahead after a cut back from Enner Valencia just escaped Pablo Zabaleta.
Sergio Aguero and Yaya Toure both rattled the bar in the second half before Diafra Sakho headed in to score in his sixth straight league game.
City responded immediately when David Silva danced his way through the West Ham defence and found the bottom corner with a terrific curling effort.
Despite piling on the pressure, City could not find an equaliser and manager Pellegrini was disappointed that his side lacked their usual ruthless streak.
“I thought we improved a lot in the last 30 minutes and had three or four really good chances to score, but we didn’t take them,” the Chilean said.
“In games like this, you have to make the most of the opportunities that come your way.
“We didn’t make the most of the chances we created and also hit the crossbar twice when, on another day, those shots go into the net.
“But we must give credit to West Ham because they played very well.”
City host Newcastle United in the League Cup on Wednesday and Pellegrini is expected to rotate his squad, particularly with the Manchester derby coming up on Sunday.
Main image courtesy of Manchester City FC via YouTube, with thanks.
