Manchester City suffered an agonising defeat at Sunderland after Darren Bent's injury-time penalty.
The Blues should have been ahead in the first half but Carlos Tevez was guilty of a glaring miss. With an open goal gaping and just 12 yards out, the Argentinian somehow managed to plant his shot over the bar.
And the spirited Black Cats made City pay. Micah Richards was penalised for a challenge on Bent, and the striker recovered to score past Joe Hart - the first goal City have conceded this season.
A victory would have been the perfect way to celebrate the Blues’ rebirthday which takes place later this week.
Wednesday brings the second anniversary of Sheikh Mansour’s incredible takeover which overnight turned City from relegation battlers to a potential European superpower.
Ironically, the last game before that stunning news broke was at Sunderland, the Blues coming away with a 3-0 win, with Shaun Wright-Phillips bagging two. The famine has become feast, and long-starved City fans are gorging themselves.
Wright-Phillips is one of few survivors from that day, although he is now having to play second fiddle from the bench.
Only Joe Hart and Richards, of the team which started that day, were picked by Mancini for this fixture.
In the meantime, the Sheikh has splashed out a staggering £325million on players, with 47 players either coming in or going out – and sometimes both – in a whirlwind 24 months.
A comparison of the two teams, from August 31, 2008 and yesterday, shows just what impact the Blue revolution has had.
Gone are Michael Ball, Vedran Corluka, Stevie Ireland and Didi Hamann, and in are Carlos Tevez, James Milner, Gareth Barry and Yaya Toure.
Mancini had no hesitation in naming the same team which crushed Liverpool last week, even keeping the same seven substitutes.
It was an indication that the manager is close to what he sees as his first-choice starting line-up, but with injured Jerome Boateng and Aleksandar Kolarov likely to displace Richards and Joleon Lescott in the full back positions.
Selection
The other imponderable is how Mario Balotelli, also out with a knee problem, fits. He is unlikely to replace Carlos Tevez unless the Argentine suffers a serious dip in form, and replacing Adam Johnson or James Milner would unbalance a good blend.
The £24million signing might have to bide his time from the bench once he gets the all-clear from the medical team.
Mind you, with the profligacy City showed in the first half, he might not have too long a wait.
Th biggest culprit was Tevez, who conjured up one of the biggest howlers in living memory just 16 minutes in.
Yaya Toure was the engineer, powering out of defence after breaking up a Sunderland attack. When Lee Cattermole tried to knock him out of his stride he was brushed aside like an infant.
Toure drew keeper Simon Mignolet and squared it for Tevez, who had the goal at his mercy, 12 yards out.
To his own amazement, and that of everyone else in the ground, he planted it firmly over the bar.
City continued to dominate proceedings, imposing their physicality on the game as well as dominating possession and passing the ball sharper.
This City team is not afraid to mix it. Nigel de Jong smashed into Steed Malbranque early in the game just as Sunderland threatened to cut up rough, while Joleon Lescott and Richards legitimately forced off Michael Turner and Fraizer Campbell for treatment.
But they looked to be affected by the Tevez miss, some of the fluency and drive going out of their game for a while.
Yaya was playing almost as a second striker at times, even though many persist in calling him a defensive midfielder.
He combined smartly with Tevez, only to be denied by Mignolet’s dive at his feet.
And in first half added time, Yaya came close to emulating Tevez when Milner’s free kick found him unmarked, in yards of space, at the far post. He tried to slip a shot past the keeper, but Mignolet thrust out a foot to turn it round the post.
Last season the Blues had been denied victory by an astonishing performance by keeper Craig Gordon. This time his deputy was intent on doing the damage, and he kept the Blues at bay to the point where Sunderland began believing in themselves.
City needed to start the second half with more gusto. But it was the home team, morphing into a virtual United old boys team with subs Danny Welbeck and Phil Bardsley on, which picked up the cudgel.
Suddenly Hart, after a dormant first half, was forced to punch clear as Darren Bent threatened, and moments later he repeated the dose as Ahmed Elmohamady’s cross caught in the wind and almost swirled into his net.
Sunderland gained the upper hand after the break, but it was Mignolet who took the honours again.
With 11 minutes left Richards headed Milner’s corner back across goal and sub Emmanuel Adebayor’s flick looked to have won it until the keeper flung himself skywards to turn the ball over the bar.
To their credit, the Black Cats drove forward in the closing stages and earned their reward when Richards was adjudged to have fouled Bent in the box.
Unfortunately for City, the Sunderland striker was in no mood to return Tevez' earlier favour, and City were sunk.
City: Hart, Richards, Kompany, K Toure, Lescott (Adebayor, 75), De Jong, Barry, K Toure, A Johnson (Silva, 81), Milner, Tevez (Jo, 90).
Subs not used: Given, Zabaleta, Wright-Phillips, Vieira.
What is your verdict on the action? Have your say.
Sunderland 1 City 0
August 29, 2010
Comments
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Type your comment here...just didn't perform in second half
Should have tied this one up in the first half. What a sickener!
Mancini is a joke!!!
We will win nothing playing 3 DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDS!!!!!
All we do is invite teams to come at us, not good enough get rid!!!mment here...
Goo Goo
A game that should have been over at half time. Shocking 2nd half display, capped by poor defensive play from Richards to give the penalty away. Pip.. Pip..
Only two days ago I was saying how Richards had improved and should be an example to Boyata..... the silly little boy will never improve until he cuts out these pathetic mistakes.
He needs to be dropped after today as a sign that we cannot lose 3 points (1 point even - we may have gone on to get 3) so so cheaply!
Absolute disaster - Not a single match-winner after 3 years of player turnaround and £300m spent not a single player that can change a game for the better. Adebeyor needs to go, Silva is the new Robinho!
What a joke! Throwing it all away in the last seconds......
Richards is an idiot
City beat themselves. After having 62% of the possession in the first half and Carlos`s awful miss, most of the team seemed to go to sleep in the second half. This result was a travesty. No way should a poor, physical Sunderland team have won. Of course, when Mike Dean is reffing, anything can happen. Not just disappointing, very annoying that we can still waste chances and surrender points in this way.
Bruno yet yet again -
Cant pass, cant tackle unless he wrestles you...no composure on the ball...
GET SHUT -
A Disgrace City - total disgrace.....
How did Carlos miss that sitter..
Nuff said!!
A game City should have put to bed well before the 93rd minute.
As for Sunderland - a typical Steve Bruce team that is more about kicking the living daylights out of the opposition, that playing football.
Probably being an ex-Red means that his teams still get away without bookings and penalties for fouls committed from clearly an offside position.
Are we back to the typical thing
We were disorganised today and the miss from tevez should have built the platform for us to beat sunderland by a few. Dont worry about the rags coming on here gloating its just a measure of were we are going. The ref gave us no help and was just waiting to give a pen and at such a late stage it hurts folks but we were not going to go the season unbeaten and me personally i would rather get beat now than later and we got beat unfairly today we played well enough but did not get what we deserved,in fairness they had a go as well but to nick it like they did was lucky.
schoolboys. missed sitters, foul throws, hacking penalties.....
Now you have a minuscule understanding of the pressures United have felt for more than 20 years. Pressure, every season; pressure, every game; pressure, every minute of every game. It's not enough to secure the odd glorious derby victory. No. Win after win after win is demanded by the expectations of high achievement.
Are you up to it? Is the club up to it? There's room for doubt. You can't buy experience and you can't buy a winning culture. You have a long, long way to go. Chin up, chaps
9th place....a pitiful 4 points from 9 and 3 goals from 3 games.....
Need I say 'City hit the self-destruct button again.....TYPICAL CITY' and 'Losing Mentality'?
Pick yourselves up and sort it out...... Milner was fantastic today.... Yaya was good until his first half miss! Sunderland were ultra negative but got the points ..... Live and Learn!
AWFUL TEVEZ MISSED OPEN NET HE MISSED ANOTHER YAYA SHOULD HAVE BURIED HIS CHANCE, RICHARDS GAVE HE PENALTY AWAY, AND WE PLAYED SLOW 2ND HALF TYPICAL CITY WE WON'T BREAK IN TOP 4 LIVERPOOL ONE OF!
£150 million spent and we can't even beat Sunderland, what a joke,
Get Mancini out NOW. He doesn't understand the difference between drawing and winning.
Oh Dear !!!, still its eary days and i would have said that if we would have won, we have a brake now so it will give them a bit more time to get sorted out.
Type your comment here...t cant ack it away from home
Never mind, still time to sack the manager,and buy some more players before the transfer window closes.
Sunderland are no slouches & only lost 3 at home last season (Chelsea, Utd & Villa) so it was never going to be a walkover But, yeah, gutted as we should have won this one. However, we don't have a divine right to win every game. So don't start sayin same old City coz that's what keeps us down. Upwards
Well, with all the money spent to buy players and still can't buy class or a winning mentality. If I were the owner I did request for a refund.
Should of won this game! Couple of great chances in the 1st half which we should of taken, and unfortunately their keeper made a top save in the 2nd half. Thought we defended brilliantly through out, but yet again its that man Richards who lets us down!
On the positive side, it was a performance we normally would not give away from home, a good one. Normally would of been at least two or three up before there goal! Don't be too worried by this as its just the taking of chances that let us down today, and i am fully confident that the players we have will take there chances a lot more often than they don't, with plenty of goals scored this season.
Disappointed, but not not down hearted! We will be the one's wtih the last laugh at the end of the season i am sure!
CTID.
Said it before and will say it again. This team always lets you down. Another £70 in my pocket though to get something out of it.
Looked great in the first half and moved the ball very well, knowing where everybody was. Missed to many chances that cost us in the end. King Tevez missed his easiest chance he'll have for a long time.
Second half, was more of Sunderland hounding our players on the ball and route one football, Ade had a good chance, but a great reaction save from their keeper.
Still here and still very proud to be a Blue. We'll have blips like this all the way through the season like eveybody else. I can see a big change in our football, which is good to see.
Well, the way Sunderland jumped around at the final whistle, it's seems that they've just won their cup final.
Next match please.