• Premier League

Manchester United and Arsenal still in title race - Pellegrini

Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini believes his side fired Chelsea a warning after Sergio Aguero inspired a 4-1 win at Sunderland, but says Manchester United and Arsenal are still in the Premier League title race.

Aguero scored his side's first and fourth goals while other strikes from Stevan Jovetic and Pablo Zabaleta saw the visitors hit back from the shock of conceding an early opener to Connor Wickham on Wednesday.

City's win came straight after an equally comprehensive victory at Southampton on Saturday and Pellegrini is convinced his side's early season struggles may now be over.

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"I think we are returning to the performances we had last season," Pellegrini said. "I've always said it is impossible to know who is going to be champions at this time of year when you still have to play 24 games.

"If we continue playing in this way, I'm sure we will be in the fight for the title. Chelsea are also playing very well, but I don't think it will just be two teams fighting for the title.

"There will be three or four teams fighting for the title. Manchester United have won their last four games and Arsenal are coming again."

Another masterful performance from Aguero drew praise from Pellegrini, who was keen to stress the team effort which enabled his side to end their run of four consecutive 1-0 defeats at the Stadium of Light.

Pellegrini said: "He is an important player but it is not just Sergio Aguero - we play in a way that it is very useful for him to score but it is important for him not just to think about scoring but to play for the team.

"I don't know if there is a better striker in Europe [than Aguero]. There are a lot of good strikers, but in the last few games I think he has shown he is one of the best five players in the world. It's not just that he is scoring, he is also playing very well generally."

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