Sven-Goran Eriksson

MANCHESTER City manager Sven-Goran Eriksson blamed referee Alan Wiley for not preventing the circumstances which led to the opening goal against Sheffield United.

"It is a very strange goal because the ball changed direction," he said. "Two balloons made a one-two with Michael Ball. I have never seen a goal like that.

"We asked the fourth official twice in the first half to tell the ref to stop the match and clear it.

"I think the ref told Joe Hart that when the ball is in the other half of the pitch he should clear it, but I think that is not right - you should not ask a player when the ball is live to clear the pitch.

"But it would be stupid of us to say the defeat was because of the balloons."

Eriksson was also critical of his players for lacking the stomach for a battle.

"I think we were not happy to take the fight as we should have done. We lost too many balls in midfield and up front," he said.

"It is the beauty of the cup which hit us today. If you are not prepared to battle, as well as play good football, you know a team from a lower division will fight well.

"We should do better. It is our fault in the first half, although second half we did well."