The ingenuity, speed and guile with which City took apart a previously resilient Birmingham side left a delighted Mancio ready for City’s revenge fuelled derby clash…
The rags ageing backbone which includes the likes of Van der Sar, Ferdinand, Neville, Scholes, Giggs and an old wheezing bloke up front called Berbaflop will not be relishing at all the prospect of coming up against a City forward line which is on absolute fire and a squad still seething over two injury time defeats at the swamp this season.
Roberto Mancini:
‘If we continue to play like we did today, and as we did at Burnley, then we will have a very good chance of finishing fourth. We will next be playing an important team with a great squad, but it is good we will have a week to prepare because my players spent a lot of energy today.
‘We have to respect United and, of course, we want to win this game, but we must think about our position in the table, not United. It is about us’
Mancio singled out goal merchants Emmanuel Adebayor and Carlos Tevez who both hit a brace in the demolition of Birmingham. Tevez has now struck 28 goals in 34 City starts and Adebayor, 13 goals in 25:
‘Carlos and Emmanuel are two fantastic strikers and if they continue to play like this afternoon, our chances of fourth place will be better.
‘I think that it will be better if we win the next five games 1-0…it’s important we don’t lose concentration.’
Alex McLeish
‘It was unbelievable. They get the penalty and they get their noses in front.
‘Then the second goal, which I’m a bit disappointed with, because we’ve been quite good with set pieces, but Onuoha got a free header in there and it’s difficult to keep out.
‘We had to chase the game after that and we got a goal back and then unbelievably we lose a soft third goal. There’s things to work on in terms of the next game, but I see it as a blip today.’
VITAL STATISTICS:
City’s 10 Game Mini Season Results So Far:
(Last 10 started at Fulham)
P:5, W:4, L:1, F:16, A:5,
Pts:12 out of 15, GD:+11
Race for Fourth:
Man City P 33, Pts 62, GD+28, GS 69
Tottenham P 32, Pts 58, GD+26, GS 58
City Hitmen:
Tevez: 28 goals in 34 City starts
Adebayor: 13 goals in 25 City starts
MCFC POST MATCH VIDEO LINKS:
VMC City Video Link: Mancio Pitchside Interview At Eastlands
Ade Pitchside Interview At Eastlands
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