City have rivals in their sights

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.

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.