Manager reaction to City Defeat

Sunderland manager Roy Keane was upset by defeat at the hands of Manchester City.

City ran out three nil thanks to goals from Stephen Ireland and Sean Wright Phillips.

Keane admitted his side were below par a refused to make any excuses for his team.

Keane told safc.com "The first goal was hard to take, it was a bad goal. In fact, they were all bad, the second and third in quick succession."

"We never looked a threat after that and it was easy for City, it was a very bad day at the office, very bad."

"Some days, it just doesn't happen. Some days you have two or three players under performing - I can't think of one of our players today who performed to the level I know he can."

"I don't want to try to make excuses, the bottom line is that we have lost a game of football 3-0 and we're not happy about it."

"It's not a day for excuses. City seemed sharper, quicker to the ball, they passed it better and they defended better - they did everything better than us. When that happens, you are never going to win."

"You make your own luck in this game. I wouldn't insult anyone by saying it wasn't our day or by blaming the referee. We've been beaten, it's hard to stomach and we have to take it."

"We could have played all night and we wouldn't have scored. We maybe had one shot on target."

"Usually we keep going but today we never looked like getting something. When we were 3-0 down, maybe one or two of the players' heads dropped. You can't afford to do that."

"Every manager wants a positive result before an international break, because if not it's a long two weeks. Maybe it's a good thing because I will be glad to see the back of one or two of them."

"Sometimes players go away and it livens them up. I don't know if it's a good or bad time."


Vital Sunderland Says

Keane is right we were shocking in the second half, I do believe we played well in the first however up until we conceded the first goal we were the best team. The second half was terrible and if the performance wasn`t bad enough I got a good soaking going home.

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