Manuel Pellegrini: 'Middlesbrough deserved it'

Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini has admitted that his side were second best as they crashed out of the FA Cup with a defeat to Middlesbrough.

The Premier League champions were beaten 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium, and the Chilean accepted that Boro deserved to go through to the fifth round.

Pellegrini told BBC Sport: "Before they scored the first goal, we had five or six clear chances. They didn't have one chance. But we conceded a very easy goal, and the game changed.

"We were nervous. They are a team who work well; that's why they are second in the Championship. They had opportunities to score more goals and deserved to go through.

"Now we must continue in the Premier League and Champions League. I wanted to continue in all the competitions but now we must focus on the Premier League and Champions League. We now have a difficult game against Chelsea, We must reduce the five-point gap."

City will look to respond when they travel to league leaders Chelsea next week.