Thursday, 4th October, 2012
Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini believes his side’s 1-1 draw against Borussia Dortmund last night could represent a very important point.
Mancini’s men were aiming to beat the German giants with home advantage in the Champions League and pick up their first three-point haul of the group stage, having lost their opener 3-2 away at Real Madrid.
relatedNewsStory But Dortmund played with verve and style and the Citizens were unable to get a grip of the German champions, who took the lead when Marco Reus stole in to intercept a misplaced pass from Jack Rodwell in the 52nd minute.
Dortmund continued to excel and ended the match having peppered the Manchester City goal with 32 shots and looked the more impressive team throughout.
However, a penalty converted by Mario Balotelli in the very last minute of the game ensured the spoils were shared and Mancini knew his side had been lucky to avoid defeat, instantly praising goalkeeper Joe Hart for keeping Dortmund down to just one goal.
"We should thank Joe this evening after this incredible performance because he saved everything", Mancini told his club’s official site.
"I’ve never seen Joe play better for City and it’s one of the best displays I’ve seen for many years", he continued.
"However, I am really disappointed with our overall performance in this game, but I know what the problem is and I will solve it very quickly.
"We were very poor tonight, but I think this point could be very important in what is a very tough group.
"Dortmund played better than us and at the moment are a better team than we are. We have good players, but Borussia are more experienced than us."
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