FA Cup Final Man City v Wigan - Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has revealed he will start Costel Pantilimon in goal for Saturday’s FA Cup final.
Jo Hart will miss out on another FA Cup final appearance.England stopper Joe Hart had hoped to play against Wigan but Mancini says a final appearance would be a just reward for Pantilimon, who has played in all of City’s FA Cup and Capital One Cup matches this season.
City are 1/1 to keep a clean sheet on Saturday, with a 2-0 win in normal time at 11/2.
“We decided this at the start of the season. Pantilimon deserves to play,” said Mancini.
“Joe won the FA Cup two years ago, he won the Premier League last year, he is the best keeper in England and I think he should be happy his second keeper can play in a big game.
We decided this at the start of the season. Pantilimon deserves to play.
Roberto Mancini
“I know he wants to play but we decided at the start of the season it was important for Pantilimon to play in the two cups.”
Mancini may be more concerned about his side’s lack of cutting edge at the other end of the field following a goalless draw against Swansea on Saturday. Edin Dzeko and David Silva both spurned chances in front of goal and Mancini admitted the misses were indicative of the Blues’ season.
“It is difficult when you consider why you don’t score enough goals,” he added.
“Last year we scored 20 goals more than this season and we are missing them, it’s too many.
“If we had scored another 10-20 goals we could have been fighting for the league.”
Dzeko is 9/2 to score first on Saturday, while Silva can be backed at 13/2.
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