Vincent Kompany tells Manchester City to GIVE UP on chasing Chelsea

VINCENT KOMPANY insists that Manchester City’s task now is simply to forget about titles and honours – and just find their form again.

Vincent KompanyGETTY

Vincent Kompany is hopeful that Man City can find their best form before the season ends

City’s wretched spring took another downward turn on Monday night at Selhurst Park, as they crashed 2-1 to a resurgent Crystal Palace, a result that all but ended any hope of the title this season and could spell doom for under fire manager Manuel Pellegrini.

It was City’s third straight away defeat in the Premier League, and it left them a full nine points behind leaders Chelsea, and behind both bitter rivals Manchester United – who they meet on Sunday – and Arsenal in the places for automatic Champions League qualification.

City have now lost five of their last seven games in all competitions, and though they were unlucky at Selhurst, with Palace’s first goal probably offside and a clear penalty not being awarded, it was another occasion when they simply failed to impose their will on the opposition.

Skipper Kompany said: “My only concern is we get back to our best form. I’ve learnt from past seasons that finishing a season strongly can have an impact on your next season.

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This was not one of those that I felt we should have lost

Vincent Kompany

“It wasn’t even a bad game. We are demanding with ourselves because we have to win, but did they have a shot on goal except for set-pieces? I don’t know.

“Palace are definitely a solid team. They know how to defend. They had a game plan so credit to them. But, for us, it wasn’t a bad game in comparison with other games that we have lost.

“It’s our general form that we have to improve. This was not one of those that I felt we should have lost. It has a different feel to it than the result at Burnley. But a team like us needs result and that was not the result we hoped for.”

As for the clash with United on Sunday: “A derby is a derby. It doesn’t matter what place you are in the league. If anything, it’s a good moment to go into a derby. I guess the momentum is a little bit with them at the moment, but it’s the perfect place for us to go and try to rectify what happened last night.”

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