Manuel Pellegrini was relieved for his Manchester City side after they managed to return to the winners' list on Sunday.

City had lost four of their past six Premier League outings before landing a 2-0 triumph over West Ham United at the Etihad Stadium which allowed the reigning champions to go within a point of third-placed Manchester United.

However, Pellegrini did not touch on that scenario as the most vital need for City's win after they were beaten by Crystal Palace and United in successive fixtures.

The Chilean said: "It was not depending on what Manchester United did yesterday (1-0 loss to Chelsea) - I think it was very important for our team to win.

"We came from two defeats in a row and always when one is a derby it is worse. It was important to be a consistent team and we played especially, for the first 65 minutes until the injury of David (Silva) that was a distraction, as a consistent team.

"In other games we have played some minutes but today I think we played the whole game."

A James Collins own-goal in the 18th minute and Sergio Aguero's 36th-minute finish gave City their 19th victory of the season which reignites their hopes of a top-three finish.