Man City manager Roberto Mancini was left frustrated by his side's collective lapse in the closing stages of their 1-1 draw with Arsenal.
Italian thinks defending champions are two points short of potential
Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini was left frustrated by his side's collective lapse in the closing stages of their 1-1 draw with Arsenal.
The defending Premier League champions came to within eight minutes of victory at their Etihad Stadium but Laurent Koscielny cancelled out Joleon Lescott's first-half header.
A point was probably the least Arsenal deserved after dominating for long periods but Mancini was still disappointed his players did not defend their lead.
"I don't know if we lost our concentration but it's strange," he told
Sky Sports 1HD.
"Eight, 10 minutes to go to finish the game, we should have had our concentration 100 per cent.
Problem
"We had the game under control. [It was] only for the last 10, 15 minutes... I don't know why we don't continue to play.
"We were too deep. The problem is we need to close when we have a chance to score."
The draw moved the champions on to nine points from five games and bookmakers have made Manchester United favourites for the 2012/13 title for the first time this season.
Asked to assess City's start to the defence of their crown, Mancini wanted to highlight injuries and the fact the club completed business late in the summer transfer window.
"It's difficult," he said.
"I think we did not start with some players. We had some problems with this. I think we have two points less [than we should], probably."
