Premier League - Managers: Mancini defiant despite defeat

Roberto Mancini insists a shock defeat to Swansea has done nothing to change the complexion of the title race despite Manchester United going top.
Swansea 1-0 Manchester City
Brendan Rodgers: "Sometimes you get results where you take on the big guns of European football when you win the game 1-0 and you're maybe hanging on, but we were the better side. In the second half when we scored, I think that was when we showed our maturity tactically. We dropped on our lines and blocked spaces. It was very, very difficult for them to get through us. Over the course of the game, some of the passing and moving and ball retention against top players was phenomenal."
Roberto Mancini: "I think that this championship maybe will be decided three games from the end. The season is long. What's happened can happen also to United in the next game and we can go again on the top. It will change nothing. It's been difficult the last four days for me, but football is this - sometimes you can lose. I don't think that we deserved to lose this game. I should say that Swansea played very well in the first 30 minutes. They played very good football."
Manchester United 2-0 West Brom
Sir Alex Ferguson: “It was a great performance. We took a bit of time to get the rhythm of the game right but once we got that we played some exciting stuff and some really good football. We could have scored a lot of goals today. If there is a criticism then that is it. We created a lot of chances and missed them. It becomes worrying because you need the second one to take the pressure off you. Fortunately we got the second goal and we still missed chances after that, but we kept our drive for the whole game, which was good. The players didn’t stop; they tried to score from every attacking situation, which is always pleasing.”
Roy Hodgson: "I think it was a penalty - I don't think there is any question about that. It wasn't one of those penalties where Evra deliberately tried to foul Odemwingie or even make a challenge - but he did definitely trip him up I don't think there can be too many doubts about that when it's seen time and time again on the TV. We could argue, with a bit of luck, that might have helped us and got us back into the game. But the decisive moment was Jonas' sending off. There aren't that many teams of our ilk that come here and put United under enormous pressure."
Norwich City 1-1 Wigan Athletic
Paul Lambert: "It was a tough game, but it was always going to be one of the hardest, if not the hardest, because of the expectancy. We could have lost it at the end, so it is another point for us to be safe. I have always thought that if you can't win it, don't lose it. We showed great resilience and we had to. We could have won it at the end with Morison's header, but I will take a point."
Roberto Martinez: "You have seen today why we are in the position we are in because we cannot really show that little bit of composure or have that bit of luck in front of goal. We created enough chances to win and grew into the game. After giving away the early goal, I felt we were really strong, we kept the ball well, and created numerous chances. Clearly it was a good performance for us, but only one point to show and that is what we have to rectify from now until the end."

Source:http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/12032012/58/premier-league-managers-mancini-defiant-despite-defeat.html

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