The City manager would not elaborate on exactly where he went wrong, but is calling on the side to put a bad night behind them and concentrate on Saturday’s derby FA Cup semi final at Wembley.
Reflecting on the defeat, which sees City stay fourth in the Barclays Premier League, Mancini said: “We did not play for the first 20 minutes, when Liverpool played very well. But tonight I made some mistakes, so it is my fault. The players could do better, but I made mistakes.
“I’m sorry for the fans, because we only started to play after 20 minutes. It’s for me to know what I did.
“Liverpool started quickly, they are strong at home and we conceded a lot of chances to them early. After that we played, but not in the first 20 minutes. With all the other teams having won at the weekend, it was important to win this game but it is important we forget this and prepare for the semi final.”
A night to forget was compounded by the loss of Carlos Tevez, who looks set to miss the showdown with his old side after injuring a hamstring in the build-up to Liverpool’s first goal.
“It is his hamstring, and I think it will be very difficult for Saturday. We only have five days before then, we will try but we probably need another two weeks,” added Mancini.
