MANCHESTER CITY goalkeeper Joe Hart felt his side had plenty in reserve despite recording only a narrow 2-1 victory over West Ham in the Barclays Premier League yesterday afternoon.

City were 2-0 up inside 15 minutes, Nigel de Jong powering home his first goal for the club and then Pablo Zabaleta claiming a second via Lars Jacobsen’s attempted clearance.

The Hammers hit back in the 33rd minute through Demba Ba, but it was the hosts who looked more likely to score another after the break and deservedly made off with all three points, which sees them pull seven clear of their nearest rivals in the battle to claim the fourth and final Champions League berth.

“It was a bit nervy but I think if we’d needed to step it up another gear, we would have done,” Hart said. “We got the two goals early and I think it’s fair to say got sloppy and let them back in it, but I think if needs be we’d have got another goal.”

De Jong’s opener was something of a surprise, the midfielder not famed for his goalscoring prowess. The Dutchman’s afternoon turned sour at the break however, when an injury meant he was unable to come out for the second half, but Hart felt De Jong had nevertheless made his mark.

“The whole stadium’s in shock and I think it still is,” he joked. “I think that’s why he had to come off actually.

“He doesn’t usually do that but it was a great moment for him.”

City defender Vincent Kompany, meanwhile, felt the result was indicative of the strides taken under manager Roberto Mancini this season.

“Maybe last season we would have lost points in a game like this,” he said.

Asked about the likelihood of sealing their place in the Champions League next season – and perhaps even closing the five-point gap to third-placed Arsenal – the Belgian added: “It’s massive.

“We really want to achieve this and, why not catch up with Arsenal? We’re going to try it.”

Mancini, meanwhile, was keen to clear up the confusion over who should be credited with City’s second goal, scored when Zabaleta saw his goal-bound shot deflected in off the bar by Jacobsen.

“It was Zabaleta,” said the Italian.

“Zabaleta did everything – a one-two, the shot on goal.”

West Ham manager Avram Grant felt his side gave a good account of themselves despite slumping to a fifth straight loss to remain mired in the bottom three, three points from safety.

“At 2-0 they were on top of us, and then our reaction was very good,” Grant told Sky Sports.

“I thought we showed a lot of character today. The second half was good.”

The Hammers play Blackburn, Wigan and Sunderland in their final three games and Grant has set a target of seven points from those games to beat the drop.

“Now we play against a team that are in our area, so we have to win this game,” he continued.

“Our target is to take seven points – and we will try to take all nine – but we are playing against teams that also want the points.

“But we believe if we use character we have shown in past games away against top teams, we can win games.”