C Cup: Gerrard and Mancini in furious tunnel bust-up
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Roberto Mancini criticises Liverpool's handling of Luis Suárez case
• Striker should have apologised immediately, says Mancini
• Racism in football inquiry set to be launched
Manchester City's Roberto Mancini said that he does not think Luis Suárez is a racist but that 'he made a mistake'.Manchester City vs Liverpool
Wednesday, 11 January 2012
Time: 3:45 am - (Live) (Thur Morning)
Mio Channel 112
Carling Cup Semi-Final (1st Leg)
ROBERTO MANCINI faces Liverpool tonight believing they got it wrong over the Luis Suarez affair.
Speaking ahead of the first leg of City’s Carling Cup semi-final against Liverpool on Wednesday, Mancini also insisted the Uruguayan striker should have apologised straight away to the Manchester United player after making a racist comment to him back in October.. The Italian is the first manager to argue that Liverpool's show of unity was misplaced during the furore that surrounded the controversial verdict last month.
Uruguayan Suarez argued he did nothing wrong but an FA tribunal found against him and banned him for eight games.
And Mancini said: "Sometimes it can happen on the pitch, a situation like this.
"It is important to apologise for what you did. Sometimes on the pitch you can do something you don't want to do, because you are nervous, you don't think on the pitch.
"I don't think Suarez is a racist. I think he made a mistake, probably, yes. Everyone can make a mistake sometimes, everyone. It is impossible that we are always perfect.
"It's important to say 'I'm sorry, I made a mistake, I apologise' and accept the charge."
Asked if he felt Liverpool's stance in wearing T-shirts in support of Suarez was a mistake Mancini said: "Maybe."
City face Liverpool tonight in the Carling Cup semi-final first leg just eight days after thumping them 3-0 at home in the league — City's only win in the last four.
But Mancini was buoyed by his side's stirring fightback in Sunday's FA Cup derby with United, as they hit back from 3-0 down to 3-2 with 10 men.
Mancini said: "I am very proud because it is unusual to play with 10 players against United and to score two goals and maybe to score the third goal to equalise but for this I am very happy.
"For us, for the title, the second half against United was very important.
"If we win the Carling Cup, it is another trophy for us. We are not United, we are not Chelsea, we need to win everything. If we go to the final, it will be very important for the rest of the season.
"Maybe it is the last trophy because of the Premier League, the FA Cup, but when you are there, you want to win."
Mancini has been complaining about injury problems of late but there was positive news yesterday as both Mario Balotelli and Edin Dzeko trained without problems.
David Silva, however, will be missing with an ankle problem and Mancini is still concerned he could be left short in key areas.
With Vincent Kompany banned for four games after his controversial red card against United and Yaya and Kolo Toure both at the African Nations Cup, City are still short at a vital time.
Mancini said: "Everyone thinks we have a lot of players but we have 19 players.
"If we are unlucky that we have three or four players injured, we can have a problem. But the club knows this.
"If we don't have a central defender we play with young players. I can do nothing.
"I am not happy we have players injured, players at the African Cup. I am not happy but it is normal, but we can do nothing. If I don't have the players, we play with young players. This doesn't change."
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Gerro & Mancini tunnel war
Manchester City 0 Liverpool 1
NEAR MISS ... Johnson dives in but Lescott emerges unscathed
Glen Johnson of Liverpool, right, tackles Joleon Lescott of Manchester City.STEVEN GERRARD and Roberto Mancini had an angry tunnel bust-up as Liverpool took control of this Carling Cup semi-final.
The pair clashed after a war of words over Glen Johnson's two-footed tackle on Joleon Lescott.
Mancini claimed the Kop defender should have been sent off. But Gerrard, who struck the winner with a 13th-minute penalty, hit back: "I'm surprised at Mancini.
"On Sunday he was having a go at Wayne Rooney for getting Vincent Kompany sent off — and now he is doing exactly the same.
WAR OF WORDS ... Roberto Mancini"That does not work for me. It was a good tackle, not a red-card challenge."
Mancini insisted: "That was a worse tackle than Vincent's against Manchester United.
"Gerrard came to me and said 'you said this' but it's not important.
"Steven Gerrard can say what he wants, no problem. I said what I think."
The row over Johnson's second-half challenge took the gloss off a superb win for Liverpool, who are chasing their first Wembley final since 1996.
But Gerrard warned: "We have to remember it's only half-time in the tie and City are a very good side.
"We set out to keep a clean sheet and try to grab something.
"We gave a great performance in the first half but we know we are still in for a tough second game in two weeks' time so the job is only half done."
Kop boss Kenny Dalglish, who claimed he did not see Johnson's tackle, said: "We have a slight advantage but we are not jumping through hoops.
"We're not pretending the job is done. City are a fantastic side, that's why they're top of the league, but we can't be unhappy with a 1-0 win."
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too bad
ref dun like kompany -
Referee is Man Utd XII man.
Just like MSL, sg Lions XII man is the fans who like to swear a lot during a match.
The Malaysia XII man is the referee.
So, will Lions XII win the malaysia cup ?