Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini offered no excuses for their 0-0 draw with West Bromwich Albion.
West Brom thoroughly deserved a point and had good chances themselves with Jerome Thomas hitting the post, Chris Brunt shooting wide and Paul Scharner testing Joe Hart.
Mancini said: "Sometimes you don't win. We know that it's impossible to stay top for all 38 games.
"Every team has a plan but if we don't score in the first half it's difficult.
"We will probably have another eight or nine games in next 20 days like this.
"West Bromwich played with all their players around the ball and you have to find a solution if you don't score quickly in the first half."