da gbg bet： Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini accused Birmingham City striker Kevin Phillips of diving during Wednesday’s 2-2 draw at St Andrew’s.
da betsson： Mancini watched his side waste several second-half chances to extend on their 2-1 lead after strikes from Carlos Tevez and Aleksandar Kolarov had put City in front, and his misery was compounded by Craig Gardner’s 77th minute equaliser from the penalty spot.
Gardner’s spot-kick ensured both sides would share the spoils but Mancini says it should not have stood, insisting Patrick Vieira did not foul Phillips.
“It isn’t a penalty. It is nothing,” Mancini said.
“It is impossible for that to be a penalty. If that was a penalty then there would be five penalties in every game.”
“Phillips dived. That decision was costly for us. We didn’t play well but it was not a penalty.”
Mancini was disappointed with the result as City failed to win for the third time in succession, admitting that his side’s poor defensive record is frustrating him.
“We must improve. We need to play football again and the last two weeks we have to forgot this. We must change our mentality, play football and stop conceding goals. We need to work harder in training.”
“It was a disappointing result for us and we can’t keep conceding. It is impossible to win if you do that every time and the gap at the top at this moment is too much.”
When quizzed if his side could still mount a realistic title charge, Mancini commented: “It’s a big gap but football is strange and can change very quickly.”
Birmingham manager Alex McLeish was quick to support Phillips, insisting the penalty decision was correct.
“If you look at the penalties given against us this season, they’ve been much softer than that. I’m sure Manchester City have had their fair share of the dubious kind,” McLeish said.
“Kevin has flicked the ball past Vieira and he has clattered in to him. That is a foul.”
“Kevin was too quick. Kevin never dived. Kevin is not a diver. He is a true English gentleman.”