Joe Hart accepted Manchester City did not play well against Borussia Monchengladbach but nevertheless claimed they deserved their first Champions League win of the season.
The goalkeeper was singled out for praise by manager Manuel Pellegrini after he saved Raffael's penalty and made several other fine stops.
City, who had gone a goal down, eventually triumphed 2-1 courtesy of a 90th-minute penalty from striker Sergio Aguero.
"We didn't play well. We're not really happy with the performance but winning puts us in a good position," Hart told the club website.
After beginning their season with five consecutive league wins, City's form has been more mixed of late and, at one stage in Germany, they were on course for a fourth defeat in five matches in all competitions.
And Hart added: "We were really disjointed, like in the past couple of Premier League games, we had a good half and a bad half.
"I think we deserved to win. We profited when they were a little bit tired at the end. They made a few mistakes and we kept our quality."
Hart also thanked City's analysts for helping him to predict which way Raffael would go with his spot kick.
"For the penalty no stone is left unturned," he said. "I've seen a lot of penalties from a lot of players, we have good guys in the analysis department."
City have qualified for the Champions League's round of 16 in each of the last two seasons but, referring to their capacity to make things difficult for themselves, Hart added: "We always take the scenic route in Europe."