Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini praised Mario Balotelli's display and praised his team's performance as the Blues won 2-0 at West Bromwich Albion. The City boss also hinted the club will consider appealing the young Italian's red card with Mancini feeling it was harsh decision at best.
"Mario was excellent because he scored two fantastic goals, defended and worked very hard for the team," he told the club's official website.
"I don't agree with the referee's decision to send him off at all - it was not a red card in my opinion and we will now consider whether we should appeal the decision.
"West Brom put us under pressure for ten minutes after Mario's sending off but my players fought hard and we deserved our victory.
"It was a great day and I think the players gave a fantastic performance and played some excellent football.
The Italian also praised two of his returning stars, Nigel de Jong and skipper Carlos Tevez, who both missed the defeats at Wolves and Lech Poznan.
"Nigel is very important for our team because he gives us great balance and he allows Yaya and Gareth Barry to get forward more to support David Silva.
"Carlos is a fighter who never gives defenders a moment's peace and both he and Nigel are very important players for us.
"We have two days now to recover before we play the derby and we can go into that game now with a lot of confidence."
