Roberto Mancini refused to blame goalkeeper Joe Hart for wrecking Manchester City's title challenge as the champions slipped to a shock 1-0 defeat at Sunderland.
England
midfielder Adam Johnson claimed the only goal against his former club
on Wednesday to end City's eight-month unbeaten away league record.
Hart
looked at fault as he was beaten at his near post by Johnson's 53rd
minute effort to leave City trailing seven points behind leaders
Manchester United, who increased their advantage thanks to a late winner
in a 4-3 victory over Newcastle.
However, Mancini's ire was directed at the referee rather than the England keeper, who was nevertheless at fault for allowing Johnson's cross to slip beneath his out-stretched left arm.
The
Italian admitted his side had been "soft" in crucial areas, but also
pointed the finger at the officials as City suffered a third consecutive
defeat at the Stadium of Light, a venue where they are winless for
almost four-and-a-half years.
Mancini
claimed they missed Craig Gardner's foul on Pablo Zabaleta in the
build-up to the decisive goal from the winger, who ended a rollercoaster
two-and-a-half-year spell at City with a £10 million return to his
native north-east in pre-season.
"Johnson
was really clever because we all thought he was going to cross," Mancini
said. "Instead, he shot, he did very well. I don't think Hart was at
fault.
Poor form in front of goal
Mancini didn't spare his side from criticism, however, as they fell further behind United, and he added: "We didn't score and this is our problem. We just didn't score enough goals to win the game.
Mancini didn't spare his side from criticism, however, as they fell further behind United, and he added: "We didn't score and this is our problem. We just didn't score enough goals to win the game.
"Whenever we had chances, we were too soft. We were too soft in attack, too soft when we got chances, too soft when we shot.
"Sometimes we didn't shoot when we should have. We wanted one touch more and that's no good.
"When
you play against a team like Sunderland, who defend with all their
players behind the ball, if you get a chance, then you need to score.
They are a bit of a bogey team for us here, maybe next year we won't
come."
Although United now look firm
favourites for the title, Mancini shrugged-off their seven-point
advantage and added: "What happened at Old Trafford is not important to
us. We know United are a fantastic team and will probably win every game
but the season is long.
"United are better
than us at present, but it can change. They are on the top but we have
the time to recover. Seven points isn't a problem."
Stephane
Sessegnon had chances to stretch the winning margin, but after seeing
his side earn back-to-back home wins for the first time since March,
Sunderland manager Martin O'Neill insisted: "We played really well
against a terrific side and the confidence is coming back.Source:FIFA