James Milner’s first goal for City since a summer move from Aston Villa and Captain Carlos Tevez’s 13th of the season looked to have seen the Blues through to a trip to Notts County until a rare error by England goalkeeper Joe Hart.
Mancini, up against his mentor and friend Sven for the first time as managers, said: “Leicester played very well. We had a lot of chances in the second half. But this is the FA Cup - if we want to win, maybe we must do better.”
Big striker Sol Bamba scored with his first touch in English football to put City on the back foot, and the boss added: “Bamba is very tall. Next time we must pay more attention to him.”
But he refused to point a finger at Hart, the hero of the midweek draw at Arsenal but cuplable for Andy King’s equaliser: “Joe saved a lot of times at Arsenal. Today he made a mistake, but we have another chance.”
Among the crowd was new City striker Edin Dzeko, decked out in black and red like City’s travelling army to join the tribute to 1969 FA Cup Final matchwinner Neil Young.
Mancini said: “He will be important for us because Dzeko is a different player from what we have. I think he and Tevez can play well together, but we have other players to choose as well.”
Leicester boss Sven said: “We played excellent football. It was a good match and we were equal with one of the best teams in the country, so we have to be happy.
“We tried to win the game but you have to be careful - if you leave yourself open, they will kill you with the players they have. It will be difficult in the replay, but we’ll look forward to it, why not?”
