text: Manuel Pellegrini claimed he does not fear the sack after Manchester City’s title hopes suffered a big blow at Crystal Palace. Palace piled the pressure on the Chilean with an outstanding win that was secured by goals from Glenn Murray and Jason Puncheon. It leaves City in fourth place, nine points behind Barclays Premier League leaders Chelsea, and sweating on qualification for next season’s Champions League. City, who hit back with a late Sergio Aguero goal, were furious that Murray’s opener was allowed to stand, feeling it should have been disallowed for offside, and they surrounded referee Michael Oliver to protest. Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini witnessed his side limp to a 2-1 defeat at Crystal Palace . Pellegrini believes that Palace's first goal, scored by stirker Glenn Murray, was clearly offside . Murray celebrates giving Palace the lead in the first half with a close range finish . The result places further uncertainty on Pellegrini’s future but he insisted he does not fear the axe. ‘Am I concerned for my job? No. I’m never concerned about my job,’ said Pellegrini, who next up face rivals United at Old Trafford on Sunday. ‘I do my work and am very happy. You maybe have a difficult season, but you never worry about things like this.’ When asked about his players crowding referee Oliver after the first goal from Murray, Pellegrini, who felt his side should have been awarded a second-half penalty when Palace striker Murray handled in the box, replied: ‘Because it was a clear offside. In the first minute, there was another clear offside. Jason Puncheon gave Palace a 2-0 lead against City when the midfielder scored with a superb free-kick . Puncheon's goal proved decisive for Palace, who are now up to 11th in the Premier League table . Yaya Toure scored a consolation goal for City as they lost more ground on league leaders Chelsea . ‘The mistake the referee can do, but there was also after that a clear penalty, and a lot of things happened in the game.’ Pellegrini added: ‘You ask me the same question every time (about the title race) and I give the same answer: we are not thinking about Chelsea and titles. We go each game and try to win. At the end of the season, we will see.’ Palace manager Alan Pardew heaped praise on his side, who virtually guaranteed their top-flight status with victory. ‘It’s a great night for us, fabulous for the club. We have 39 points on the board, so we’d like to think we’ll be back here next year. Crystal Palace has worked wonders since joining the club from Newcastle United back in January this year . ‘My job gets more difficult now after beating the champions here. Expectations will be higher. We have to keep on improving on it. ‘There wasn’t too much of a secret tonight. It was about resilience and good organisation. Great character in the team. ‘It was an important first goal tonight to set the mood for the game. We managed to get it. ‘We got a bit of luck, there were some scary moments — about 23 of them, I counted. ‘But we managed to see it through. You have to pay credit to these players. There were some real sustained attacks from City, showing tremendous character to keep their heads up at 2-0 down, got a great goal and I feared it was going to be a draw, but it was our night tonight. ‘Sometimes it is. We had a break with the first goal, which looks offside. But sometimes you deserve them. FA disciplinary chiefs are likely to examine footage of Palace goalscorer Puncheon appearing to be hit by a missile while trying to take a corner in the second half.
target: Manchester City's chances of retaining the Premier League title were dealt a hammer blow by a 2-1 defeat at Crystal Palace .
  Glenn Murray and Jason Puncheon scored for the Eagles before Yaya Toure grabbed a consolation for City .
  Manuel Pellegrini believes that Murray's goal was a 'clear offside'
  City are now fourth in the league table, nine points adrift of leaders Chelsea with just seven matches remaining .
  CLICK HERE for all the latest Manchester City news .