Alan Pardew: “He understands the pace now. Yaya Toure and Anita were the best two players on Saturday.
“In that company, it just shows he can play at the top level and that is why we brought him to the club.
”We are missing big, big players to play with him, unfortunately.
“I thought Cisse put in a good shift.
“I thought he played that role well and held the ball up.
“I thought Demba played well too.
“Vurnon was terrific – he was our outstanding player.
“We were having six or seven last year and we had a few in this game – four or five – which was better.
“Manchester City had a bit of resilience about them.
“We gave a good account of ourselves but took no points.
“I was buoyed by the game, I really was.
“I am not just saying that for the sake of it.
“I thought our fans were terrific – they gave us the benefit of the doubt.
“We were playing the champions, so a stray pass was not really reacted to.”