Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini was set to haul off maverick man-child Mario Balotelli after just five minutes of his side's frustrating draw with Sunderland.
The enigmatic Balotelli may have gone on to score twice, but Mancini was frustrated by his fellow Italian's performance as City surrendered two potentially vital points in the title race.
Rivals Manchester United could now move five points clear at the top tomorrow and the situation might have been worse for City had they not hit back from 3-1 down to draw with two late goals.
It has been another eventful week for Balotelli, who turned up unannounced at an Inter Milan press conference on Monday and Mancini said yesterday he could not be trusted.
When asked if he thought about taking Balotelli off yesterday, Mancini said: "I thought this after five minutes, but in the end he scored two goals. He didn't play well. In a game like this the strikers should be the difference – but not in the last two minutes, in the minutes before.
"A player like Mario should score two or three goals in a game like this. In this moment we need Carlos Tevez, a striker who can do different. I want this."
Balotelli equalised for City from the penalty spot in the first half, but later showed frustration when he appeared to argue with Aleksandar Kolarov over who should line up a free-kick with Tevez.
The Argentinian was again on the bench while top scorer Sergio Aguero was missing with a mystery foot injury as Mancini insisted the title race was far from over. He said: "I think on Monday United will probably draw and we are still three points behind.
"United can arrive in a difficult moment but before the derby it is important we recover two points."
City were pushed back throughout by a hard-working Sunderland side, who scored twice through Sebastian Larsson and once through Nicklas Bendtner.
The Black Cats had already beaten City once this season and manager Martin O'Neill felt they deserved to do so again.
He said: "I thought we played brilliantly today and am obviously disappointed to have dropped some points.
"But first of all, they have won 15 consecutive games here – and we are the first team to take some points off them – and they are also second in the league, so they are a very good team."
O'Neill was unimpressed with the award of a penalty against Craig Gardner for a foul on Dzeko.
He said: "I thought initially the referee was going to book their player for diving, but I should have known better.
"Referees have a really difficult job, but I spoke to the referee in the tunnel at the end, and I assume he must have seen it since, and he said it was definitely a penalty.
"That confused me a bit. I didn't think it was and the replays will show that."
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