中文版
English
The knives had been out for Manchester City from the cognoscenti who viewed two successive defeats for Roberto Mancini's side before this encounter as a first glimmer of weakness.
Following the late resurgence on Thursday night, those blades will gleam a little less, although the negative sequence of results still remains as Mancini oversees the first mini-crisis of his reign just as he gathers his troops for the final 10-game run at the title.
One of those reverses came in the opening leg of this tie, so the argument will come that City can fall back on the old chestnut of focusing on the league. This might hold water if a resurgent Chelsea were not next here – on Wednesday – and Mancini had not stated ahead of this inconsistent performance that proper teams can arrive in European finals while claiming their domestic championship.
Of his notable names, the Italian had left Samir Nasri, James Milner and Gaël Clichy on the bench as Mario Balotelli, David Silva and Yaya Touré took their places and Gareth Barry's back problem meant he joined Vincent Kompany, Joleon Lescott and Pablo Zabaleta on the injured list.
Balotelli continues to operate in a split universe where he may or may not decide to be this team's totem. This was not one of those super Mario days, despite his cheekily slid in second-half penalty. When he barged over Emiliano Insúa on 33 minutes Matias Fernández bent the free-kick beyond Joe Hart and that was 1-0 to Sporting.
Balotelli's status as Mancini's golden child did not stop him remonstrating with his countryman for giving away the free-kick, a crime for which he has form: the Italy coach Cesare Prandelli recently dropped him from the national squad for his "agitated" behaviour, and the 21-year-old also sat out four matches for stamping on Scott Parker in the win over Tottenham Hotspur.
Earlier Stefan Savic, who is liable to a mistake, misdirected a header that went backwards and allowed the visitors to pin City in and from the ensuing onslaught Fernández eventually scored.
Micah Richards took out Diego Capel but was saved when Fernández's first free-kick went straight to Hart and the midfielder followed this by trying to con a penalty when flopping under David Pizarro's minimal contact and the referee booked him.
City's first-half crumble was complete when they conceded six minutes before the break. Marat Izmailov was allowed to sweep too easily into space down the right before providing a cross that the sluggish Kolo Touré could not clear and Ricky van Wolfswinkel finished.
Unsurprisingly, boos greeted half-time and though Sergio Agüero slotted on the hour and after 82 minutes, being knocked out was not the result desired.
On Wednesday, Mancini had given a cheeky smile and declared he hoped Manchester United would go through in their European tie to ensure their physical and mental resources would still feel the drain of competing in two competitions. And although after Sir Alex Ferguson's men went down to Athletic Bilbao before City took to the field, to stick-or-twist might have been the nagging question for the Italian, but he would have still wanted a more consistent display from his players.
Mancini, hoping to prove himself as shrewd a manager of footballers' psyches as Ferguson, was clear in his intent ahead of kick-off as he sent a message to his players: "The last two games, one in the Europa League and the other in the Premier League, did not finish how we would have liked but we can still win both competitions. It is an unpredictable game but we know the season still has a long way to go and that we can still win trophies.
"Football is strange. We have another chance tonight and I have confidence that we can progress to the quarter-finals of an important competition. We lose top place in the Premier League at Swansea but this is not the end of the title race, as some people are saying."
This is what the late Luke Moore goal for Swansea did at the weekend – raise the murmurs that City had started a predictable buckle as United began their traditional late-season canter for the title.
Now he has a further reverse to erase from his players' minds and City have yet to go to Arsenal, Stoke City and Newcastle United, while the toughest test for United is the 30 April date here at the Etihad Stadium three games before the season's end.
Beforehand Mancini also stated: "Now it is important we are very comfortable together as a squad and as a club. We must regroup and find our best form and the fans will play their part tonight and against Chelsea next week. There is no need for anyone to panic."
（一个慢牛）
