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Manchester City midfielder James Milner hails 'massive' last-gasp victory over Tottenham
The former Aston Villa man admitted that he would've liked the win to be "more boring" and praised matchwinner Mario Balotelli after his injury-time penalty
22 Jan 2012 16:39:00
By Matthew Harold
Manchester City midfielder James Milner described his side’s last-gap victory over third-placed Tottenham as 'massive' in their hunt for the Premier League title.
The match saw the league leaders blow a two-goal lead before Mario Balotelli struck an injury-time penalty to secure all three points.
After the victory, Milner emphasised how seriously his team-mates had taken the game despite the manner in which they eased to a 5-1 win in the reverse fixture earlier this season.
He told Sky Sports: “It’s massive [the win]; we obviously knew how big a game it would be, they’ve been playing really well and obviously with the added incentive of how we played at their place early in the season.
“Obviously they wanted to get one over on us with that, so we knew it would be a really tough game, they’re a very good side and I think it was an exciting game for the neutral, but we’d have liked it a bit more boring next time.”
The midfielder went on to admit that his side had been complacent in blowing their two-goal advantage.
He continued: “We took our foot off the gas, gave them one sloppy goal and that gave them the incentive to come back into it.
"We never thought it was won, but they’re a good team and you give them a sniff like we did, a sloppy goal to give away and the momentum and confidence to go on.
“So we need to make sure we learn from that and try to keep it a bit tighter because we tried to come out and played some good stuff second half and were well on top, scored the two goals and probably should have controlled the game a bit better than we did.
“But we managed to see it out at the end and a great penalty from Mario [Balotelli], he always seems to do that, full of confidence and a big win for us."
21-year-old Balotelli, who showed remarkable composure in scoring the injury-time penalty, said of his confidence: “I was calm like every time I shoot a penalty, if one day the goalkeeper is going to catch me, it’s good, but until now I always score and its ok.”
And finally when he was asked if the tackle from Ledley King that led to the penalty should have been given, the Italian responded in trademark laconic style, saying: “If it wasn’t a penalty it’s alright, but it was a penalty.”
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The match saw the league leaders blow a two-goal lead before Mario Balotelli struck an injury-time penalty to secure all three points.
After the victory, Milner emphasised how seriously his team-mates had taken the game despite the manner in which they eased to a 5-1 win in the reverse fixture earlier this season.
He told Sky Sports: “It’s massive [the win]; we obviously knew how big a game it would be, they’ve been playing really well and obviously with the added incentive of how we played at their place early in the season.
“Obviously they wanted to get one over on us with that, so we knew it would be a really tough game, they’re a very good side and I think it was an exciting game for the neutral, but we’d have liked it a bit more boring next time.”
The midfielder went on to admit that his side had been complacent in blowing their two-goal advantage.
He continued: “We took our foot off the gas, gave them one sloppy goal and that gave them the incentive to come back into it.
"We never thought it was won, but they’re a good team and you give them a sniff like we did, a sloppy goal to give away and the momentum and confidence to go on.
“So we need to make sure we learn from that and try to keep it a bit tighter because we tried to come out and played some good stuff second half and were well on top, scored the two goals and probably should have controlled the game a bit better than we did.
“But we managed to see it out at the end and a great penalty from Mario [Balotelli], he always seems to do that, full of confidence and a big win for us."
21-year-old Balotelli, who showed remarkable composure in scoring the injury-time penalty, said of his confidence: “I was calm like every time I shoot a penalty, if one day the goalkeeper is going to catch me, it’s good, but until now I always score and its ok.”
And finally when he was asked if the tackle from Ledley King that led to the penalty should have been given, the Italian responded in trademark laconic style, saying: “If it wasn’t a penalty it’s alright, but it was a penalty.”
| Sign up with 188BET for a FREE bet up to £25 – Great Prices, Every Game |
|
| Open an account with Sportingbet today and get up to £50 in free bets! |
|
| Sign up with William Hill for a free bet up to £25 |
|
| Sign up with bet365 for a free bet up to £200 |
|
| Sign up with Paddy Power - Bet £10, Get £20! |
|
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