Mario gamble pays off for City

MANCHESTER City manager Roberto Mancini admitted he took a gamble by using Mario Balotelli as a lone striker in last night’s FA Cup victory against Aston Villa.

Balotelli produced his usual unpredictable performance at Eastlands, scoring a brilliant goal, suffering an injury, getting booked and acting as peacemaker when Yaya Toure and Richard Dunne clashed in a 3–0 win which earned the Blues a quarter–final meeting with Reading on March 13.

It means the Italian now has 10 goals from 18 games in a City shirt, eight bookings and a red card. Little wonder no one can be quite sure what the temperamental 20–year–old is going to do next.

But Mancini is happy he took the responsibility anyway.

“I took a risk to play only Mario up front,” said Mancini, who axed both Carlos Tevez and Edin Dzeko. “But Mario played well and scored a fantastic goal.”

Wigan are next up for the Blues, who then go to the Ukraine for the first leg of their Europa League clash with Dynamo Kiev.