Still a hard team to beat under Hiddink though mate, with some very good players - albeit out of form. We'd have beat Chelsea had the officials done their job - that's a fact that can't be disputed.
City, we went there knowing a draw would be enough. From the start, their £500mil team pushed us back. We played them brilliantly on the counter and got the goal. The gameplan was working, even when they scored, we regrouped (with a bit of luck after Aguero hit the post) and got stronger towards half time.
Second half again, we set up perfectly in the first 15 minutes, and Del should have put the game to bed after another really good counter.
Then, they bring on a £50mil sub who, and we were sitting deep by this point, pushes us back even further. They then get a huge help in hand from a dreadful referee decision. You cannot dispute that. Our heads drop, they have the quality to take advantage.
I don't think you will find many teams who go to the Etihad in a situation like we did on Wednesday and do anything different than what we did. If Martinez had gone for all out attack, he'd have been slated for being naive - don't even pretend he wouldn't have been.
He tried to play them on the counter and get the result that way, and for 70 minutes it was going to plan. As I said, the game turned on a clear-cut decision not going our way, that a referee of the experience of Atkinson, and the position he was in, definitely could see.
