Manchester City boss Sven Goran Eriksson has sympathy for Newcastle rival Sam Allardyce after last night's victory.

"Of course I have sympathy with him," he said of Allardyce. "It's happened to me many times. That's football. Sometimes there are hard times, they can be for weeks and months, but Sam Allardyce is a very good manager. He showed that at Bolton. Give him time and he will get it right."