Sergio Aguero Not Injured as Manuel Pellegrini Slams 'Very Bad' Manchester City

Manuel Pellegrini has allayed fears suggesting Sergio Aguero was substituted due to injury in Manchester City's Champions League tie with Viktoria Plzen.

The Chilean manager, who watched on as his side battled to a 4-2 victory over the European strugglers, confirmed the Argentinian striker suffered no adverse effects from his 45-minute excursion, as reported by David Anderson of Mirror Football:

"Aguero hasn't any problems," said Pellegrini. "He knew from the beginning he was just going to play 45 minutes."

One worry for the newly installed coach is his side's capacity to ship goals against inferior opposition.

Having already conceded three against Cardiff and Aston Villa in the Premier League this campaign, City allowed Plzen to net two in an Etihad tie that remained tightly balanced until the last 15 minutes, when Alvaro Negredo and Edin Dzeko confirmed the win.

Pellegrini lambasted the team's defensive display and appeared to rue the overreliance on City's extensive pool of attackers:

"

We can attack and we can score four goals without giving so many chances that we did today in defending.

One of the most important things about being an attacking team is to know how to defend well. Today we did very, very bad.

"

Although City's passage to the Champions League round of 16 is confirmed, the English side face a Herculean task if they are to advance from Group D as winners.

Next up in the competition is a trip to current holders Bayern Munich, which City must beat by three clear goals if they are to progress as leaders.

One positive aspect of the performance against Plzen was Joe Hart's decent display.

The recently dropped goalkeeper couldn't be held at fault for either of the visitors' goals and managed to register one particularly impressive save to stop Plzen from increasing their total.

City's attacking firepower continues to bail them out in matches where the team struggle. With the clash against Bayern approaching on Dec. 10, followed by a home tie against Arsenal, Pellegrini's squad have plenty of work to do if they are to continue challenging on all fronts.

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