Mancini´s Tevez delight tempered by loss

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini said the news that captain Carlos Tevez was staying at the club was the silver lining to their loss to Everton.

Mancini’s men flopped to a 2-1 defeat at Eastlands on Monday, missing the chance to head the English Premier League table on Christmas Day for the first time in 81 years.

But while the Italian was shattered to drop points at home, the fact that his leading goal scorer Tevez withdrew his transfer request on Monday was a relief.

“I think that is important news, and is the only good news this evening. He (Tevez) is very important for everyone, for the club, for the squad, for him,” Mancini said.

Mancini said City’s slow start cost them all three points.

“We lost the game in the first 10 minutes, we conceded the first goal to easily, we slept on the first chance that they had,” he said.

“We conceded the second goal, when we were with 10 men (Pablo Zabaleta was off the field receiving treatment at the time). I think we had a lot of chances the second time, the second half.”

“We are frustrated for this, we had a big chance to go top (at Christmas) after 80 (81) years. But now we must restart, the season is long, I think if we understand that we can’t sleep when we play this game, maybe we can go on the top in the future.”

Mancini added that striker Mario Balotelli’s early substitution was ‘probably’ due to a knock to his knee, but did not confirm the extent of the injury.

Everton manager David Moyes was full of praise for his side, but added that their inability to beat lower-ranked teams was the major factor in their position in the bottom half of the league table.

“I think we can compete at the top end, but we’ve not been able to compete at the bottom end, because we’ve not been able to beat the teams below us, especially at Goodison (Park). I think when it’s come to the bigger games I think we were able to respond to the challenge,” Moyes said.

The Scottish boss credited his midfielders for their efficiency in possession.

“It was tough for us even when it was 11 men, I thought Man City played better than last year. I thought last year we had played better football,” he said.

“Tonight, it was (Mikel) Arteta and (Steven) Pienaar that made more of a difference when we had the ball. I thought the resilience and the competitiveness as a team (was good).”

“When it went to 10 men, I thought this is going to be a long (day), it was long as it was, but it was going to be longer. I thought they did a great job, resilient, stuck to our task, and ardent defending at times, blocking shots and getting in the way of things. And the goalkeeper (Tim Howard) as well, made some terrific saves.”