Southampton 3 Man City 1: We were worse than poor – Mancini
Southampton 3 Man City 1: Roberto Mancini says his side were "worse than poor" in an emphatic defeat at St Mary's on Saturday
Roberto Mancini admitted Manchester City were “worse than poor” after the Citizens were emphatically beaten by Southampton at St Mary’s on Saturday.
Jason Puncheon scored his sixth Premier League goal of the season in the seventh minute after pouncing on Joe Hart’s parry from Jay Rodriguez’s effort.
The Saints doubled their advantage shortly after through Steven Davis, who capitalised on a horrendous Hart error to leave Mauricio Pochettino’s side in control.
Edin Dzeko then scored a counter-attacking goal to give the defending champions hope of a comeback before half-time, but it ultimately proved a false dawn.
Gareth Barry’s bizarre 48th-minute own goal restored the home side’s two-goal advantage, and Mancini’s men were unable to recover as they slipped to their third defeat of the season.
“It was worse than poor,” said Mancini. “We didn’t play, it was 11 against two so it’s difficult.
“I think this is the worst game in the last two or three years.
“The players played really bad – without strength, without personality. We conceded a goal that I have never seen in my life.
“I was really disappointed with my players today. When we perform like today I’m very angry. The players were away on international duty – that’s not an excuse, but it is a reason.
“Some of our players came back on Friday and we played today. This made it difficult. In the end we played badly.”
