Pellegrini told players to ignore Old Trafford drama

Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini urged his players to ignore the events at Old Trafford before they chased an important result against Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium.

City had to settle for a 1-1 draw away from home knowing that a win would have guaranteed them Champions League football regardless of what happened back in Manchester, where United were scheduled to take on AFC Bournemouth.

However, United’s match was postponed following the evacuation of Old Trafford after a device was discovered in a toilet in the north-west quadrant of the stadium.

The device was later identified as a training tool left behind by a security company following an evacuation drill at the stadium.

United need to beat Bournemouth by 19 goals in the rearranged fixture in order to overtake City in fourth spot, and Pellegrini told his players not to worry about what was happening at Old Trafford before they took to the pitch in Swansea.

“We knew before the game, but not good information, we just knew that the game was suspended,” said Pellegrini about the events at Old Trafford.

“It’s important to investigate what happened.

“But it was more important to be focused on our game, because we were not depending on other teams.

“Before today we were in a Champions League spot for 37 weeks, so it was very important not to lose it in the last week.”

Pellegrini initially thought his team’s kick-off in Swansea would be delayed to match with a delayed kick-off between United and Bournemouth.

“At the beginning they said that maybe the game was going to be delayed for some minutes,” said Pellegrini.

“But just a few minutes after they told us that the game was being played again.”