Manuel Pellegrini pleased with strong second-leg showing

Manuel Pellegrini said that it was important to maintain their good form after watching his Manchester City side ease into the League Cup final with a 3-0 win over West Ham United.

City had all but confirmed their place at Wembley after beating the Hammers 6-0 in the first leg on January 8, but the Chilean coach was pleased by his team's strong second-leg showing on Tuesday.

He told Sky Sports News: "Of course it was good to see a professional performance. It's easy to think that the tie was finished but I think it was important to reach the final winning all of our games.

"We scored 19 goals and conceded just one, so it was good to finish [the tie] the same way [we started].

"To reach a cup final is always important and now we hope we can win it. It's the same for me [whoever the opponent is in the final]. It will be difficult whoever it is. We will find out."

Manchester United entertain Sunderland in the second semi-final this evening.