Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini has revealed that he dropped captain Vincent Kompany in order to freshen up his starting eleven.
The Belgian international has been under fire lately for a string of poor performances and calls were made on Wednesday morning for him to be dropped heading into the game with Leicester City.
Replaced by Eliaquim Mangala, Kompany was indeed forced to sit out the midweek Premier League clash and Pellegrini has justified his decision, by claiming he wanted to freshen up his side .
“He took it very well and without any problems. It was to refresh the team as it was for all those players,” the Chilean told BBC Sport.
The win means City are five points behind league leaders Chelsea with 10 games left to play this season.
“It’s been a difficult week but from the beginning we tried to dominate. It was very important to score our first goal when we did but we had more chances in second half and we improved.
“At 1-0 you are one ball away from drawing the game. It’s very important to play well but the most important thing is to win.”