Manchester City coach Roberto Mancini reserved pointed criticism for Samir Nasri and Mario Balotelli after his side's damaging derby defeat by Manchester United
City went down 3-2 in injury time at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, with Robin van Persie’s 92nd-minute free-kick bringing United victory after Pablo Zabaleta looked to have claimed a share of the spoils with a late equaliser.u00a0
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Van Persie’s free-kick took a telling deflection off Nasri, who appeared to shy away as the ball arrowed towards him, while Balotelli stormed straight down the tunnel on being substituted (52nd min). Carlos Tevez, Balotelli’s replacement, stepped out of the defensive wall as van Persie struck.
Mancini said: “I don’t know why (Tevez left the wall), but we made a mistake there. In the last free-kick, we put three players there. Were there three? We had two and a half. We didn’t cover well.” About Balotelli, Mancini said: “I love Mario as a guy, and as a player, but it’s important for him to think about his job if he wants to play well.”
Manchester police hunt for coin-thrower
Manchester police made 13 arrests as they tried to track the person who threw a coin at Man Utd’s Rio Ferdinand during Sunday’s Manchester derby.
Ferdinand bled from a cut above his eye after being struck by the coin. Chief Inspector Steve Howard said: “We will investigate the coin-throwing incident and bring the perpetrator to justice.”