Mancini fumes at late penalty

MANCHESTER City manager Roberto Mancini branded Birmingham striker Kevin Phillips a diver when earning the penalty which earned his side a 2–2 draw in the Barclays Premier League clash at St Andrew’s last night.

Phillips made an instant impact when brought on as a second–half substitute and forced the spot–kick, converted by Craig Gardner, when challenged by Patrick Vieira.

But Mancini felt the 37–year–old had gone to ground too easily as his team suffered another dent to their fading title hopes.

They are now eight points behind leaders Manchester United and have played a game more.

City twice led through Carlos Tevez and Aleksandar Kolarov, but were pegged back by Nikola Zigic and Craig Gardner.

Mancini said: “It was a disappointing result for us and we can’t keep conceding two goals every game.

“That decision was costly for us. We didn’t play well but it was not a penalty.”

To add to Mancini’s woes, defender Micah Richards was taken to hospital suffering from concussion after colliding with his own player in midfielder Nigel De Jong.

De Jong also suffered an ankle setback on a night of frustration for the visitors.

But Birmingham manager Alex McLeish hit back at Mancini’s verbal attack on Phillips and claimed it was a legitimate penalty.