Man City 1 Wigan 0: We were tired after the FA Cup, admits Mancini

Roberto Mancini admitted Manchester City felt the effects of their FA Cup exploits after Carlos Tevez scored a late winner against Wigan Athletic at the Etihad Stadium.

The Citizens were 2-1 winners against Chelsea in an energy-sapping semi-final encounter on Sunday, and the defending champions struggled to get going against a slick Latics side.

But Tevez scored his 11th top-flight goal of the campaign with seven minutes remaining, escaping the attentions of Paul Scharner and Jordi Gomez before finishing past Joel Robles.

“I was not frustrated. It was a difficult game because we played three days ago and Wigan play good football,” Mancini told BBC Sport.

“We were so tired and didn’t play well in the first half. In the second half we started so so but in the last 20 minutes we finished well.”

Mancini also warned Michah Richards that he has more work to do after the defender made his return from six-month lay-off with a knee injury, lasting 83 minutes before being replaced by Scott Sinclair.

“He’s not in good form. Micah needs to work a lot, a lot, a lot because he played for 80 minutes but his form [has a long way to go],” he added.

Meanwhile, Roberto Martínez was left to rue a first-half miss by Franco Di Santo as the Latics remained in the relegation zone, three points from safety.

“It’s very hard to take. At another moment of the season I would be extremely happy,” Martínez said.

“It was a magnificent performance. We were the better side and limited City to two shots on target and with the chances we had, it’s hard to explain how we didn’t get the points.

“It’s a performance to be proud of and when you play against a team like Manchester City you have to accept a goal with that piece of magic, but from a football – and tactical point of view – we were better in every department and deserved the points.”