Pardew said: “If it was a boxing encounter you would say it was pretty close.
“It was our maximum performance but we couldn’t get the result.
“Against the champions we’ve given a performance to suggest the season is not going to be as long as people are thinking.
“Tevez showed the qualities he can bring to the club, it’s taken him a while and he’s had knocks but he was up to full speed. He was terrific.”
