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Roberto Mancini
Roberto Mancini

City have rivals in sights

15 Mar 2010


Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini will target victories over Tottenham and Aston Villa in a bid to claim Champions League football.

City needed a stoppage-time equaliser from substitute Adam Johnson to snatch a point at Sunderland which took them to within two points of Spurs in fourth place with a game in hand. However, Mancini is confident the quest for a top-four finish remains in their own hands.

He said: "There is no change. We have one game in hand, we must play against Tottenham at home, we must play against Aston Villa. We have 10 games to play and it will all depend on us. But I think if we want to reach fourth spot, we must win these games."

City might have arrived at the Stadium of Light hoping to collect another three points, but at half-time, they trudged off the pitch trailing to Kenwyne Jones' ninth-minute header and having been decidedly second-best.

They rallied after the break and had it not been for the brilliance of Scotland goalkeeper Craig Gordon, who made five excellent saves - three of them from Craig Bellamy - they would have been back on terms long before the clock ticked into stoppage time.

However, 22-year-old Johnson, the Sunderland-born winger who turned down his home-town club in January to seal a £7million switch to City from Middlesbrough, struck at the death with a fine curling effort to claim a point.

Sunderland boss Steve Bruce, who saw Jones limp off at half-time with a groin injury which could sideline him for a month, was devastated to have victory snatched from his grasp, but proud of his players and Gordon in particular.

He said: "In the second half, he was terrific.

"He has been out for eight weeks - I think we have had eight now who have been out for more than eight or nine weeks.

"That, out of a squad of 22, is right on the limit. Craig didn't have to prove anything. He is a very, very good goalkeeper and he needed to play games. That will do him the world of good today. I thought he had done enough to win us the match."

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There is a change Mr Mancini - City may have one game in hand - but it's a game they must win now and not draw. That's on paper. In reality - for large periods of the game against Sunderland they were not the best side and prior to the Chelsea match they were not impressive. Beat Spurs? We shall see.

- Coys Switz, switzerland, 15/03/2010 08:21
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