Lescott plotting CIty's final destination after Porto win

Joleon Lescott admitted the size of Manchester City FC's 6-1 aggregate victory over FC Porto "flattered us" but he was not complaining as he underlined the Premier League leaders' desire to go all the way in the UEFA Europa League. "We are going to push for this and hopefully get to the final and win this competition," he said. That confidence was shared by City new boy David Pizarro, who in an impressive cameo set up David Silva before rounding off the scoring with his first goal for the club.

Joleon Lescott, City defender
We were confident we could get a result, 4-0 probably flattered us a bit but we're pleased with it. I don't think us scoring early altered our game plan. Mentally it was a positive for us but I'm sure they still thought they needed two goals no matter what, so I don't think it altered their game plan. It just settled our nerves a little bit.

We know David Pizarro's qualities. He has not come from the lower leagues, he came from a top Italian team and no doubt has the qualities to play at this level, so I'm pleased for him to get a goal today. This competition is massive, the Champions League wasn't great for us – we got a good number of points but not enough to qualify. Now we are in the Europa League we are going to push for this and hopefully get to the final and win this competition.

David Pizarro, City midfielder
It was important to come in and do well; I'm pleased with how today went for me. It was a difficult game. Porto played very well in the first half but the quality we have up front can decide games. There are big players, world-class players who are at this club now. Since I arrived [Sergio] Agüero has impressed me a lot, he's looked very good. [His opening goal] was the dream start for any coach. Beating the champions has double merit.

João Moutinho, Porto midfielder
It was a defeat we didn't expect. They're a great team but our goal was to win here and we showed our desire by forcing Manchester City onto the back foot in their own stadium. Unfortunately we didn't get the run of the ball and we lost. At 2-0 we had to drop back and play with a man down [after Rolando was sent off]. We did everything, we just couldn't get the goals. We wanted to win the competition again but we couldn't manage it. Now we have to turn our attentions to our domestic league.

Steven Defour, Porto midfielder
We played well, created chances, but at 2-0, with the red card, the game is over. In the first leg, if we had kept it at 1-0 or even got a second goal [it might have been different] ... but we made a few small errors and against a team like City that's costly. We had chances, the offside goal [from James Rodríguez at 1-0], but it was not our night. Our goal now has to be to win the league – we're two points behind [SL Benfica] but it's achievable. City are a good team − it's no accident they are top of the Premier League.