Mancini denies heat is on

Posted Thursday, February 25, 2010 by PA

Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini denied he was under increasing pressure after his expensively-assembled side crashed out of the FA Cup at Stoke.

City paid the price for Emmanuel Adebayor's sending off as they were overpowered 3-1 by the Potters in extra time at the Britannia Stadium. The result effectively ended City's hopes of winning silverware this season and left them to concentrate on their attempts to break into the top four of the Barclays Premier League.

The Italian has won just two of his last eight matches in all competitions but he insists he is not feeling the heat, saying: "No, no, absolutely not. I'm disappointed because we lost. We had a good chance to go to the next round and the final, but this is football, we must improve."

City forced extra time after Craig Bellamy struck immediately to cancel out Dave Kitson's 79th-minute opener.

But the game turned after Adebayor was dismissed for raising his arms in an attempt to fend off Ryan Shawcross.

Shawcross then headed the Potters ahead five minutes into extra time and Tuncay booked Stoke's place in the last eight four minutes later.

Mancini added: "My opinion is that we played very well.

"We dominated the game and had six or seven chances to score a goal before the sending off of Emmanuel.

"Football is strange. When you play well and have a lot of chances, if you don't score something can change the game.

"Until that situation it was our best performance in the last three or four games. Manu (Adebayor) played very well, fantastic. For me - maximum yellow card. It was not so dangerous."