Fulham manager Mark Hughes defended his post-match behavior after watching his side leave Eastlands with a point following a truly dreadful 1-1 draw against Manchester City. Hughes was sacked by City in December 2009 and this was his first return to the stadium in a professional capacity.
He watched his committed and passionate side come from a goal behind to earn a point and ensure City’s Premier League title ambitions took another huge blow.
Hughes was replaced at City by Roberto Mancini and at the final whistle Hughes snatched his hand away from the Italian’s grasp as he felt Mancini was not showing enough respect before he stormed down the tunnel.
The Fulham manager has previous history for falling out with fellow bosses after games and has had similar spats with Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger and Stoke City’s Tony Pulis in the past.
He said: “It’s probably my fault again but I’m a bit old fashioned and I always think that you offer your hand regardless of the circumstances. I had to offer my hand and do it with sincerity when we were beaten 4-1 by City earlier this season.”
“I was disappointed but I acknowledged that they were better and he deserved a handshake of sincerity,” Hughes said.
“I don’t think he really acknowledged the effort of my team when he offered his hand. I might have got the wrong impression but that was my take on it,” he said.
Neither goalkeeper had much to do until a moment of brilliance from Mario Balotelli after 26 minutes when he shrugged off the attentions of Danny Murphy and fired home a low effort.
The rest of the first half remained just as dire as the opening stages and Fulham made City pay for their blase attitude with a brilliant equalizer straight after the interval.
Andy Johnson chased down a long through ball and fired in a superb low cross which found Damien Duff just 5m out and he clinically slotted past Joe Hart.
Mancini did not wish to be drawn into discussing the handshake incident and preferred to focus on his side’s failings and in particular the selfishness of Balotelli who did little else but score.
He said: “For you maybe [the handshake] is more interesting than the match but not for me. I am disappointed with the result but I knew that this is an option when you play every three days and we have a few players injured at this moment. It can happen. Second half probably we were so tired.”
“Today was very difficult. He [Balotelli] scored a good goal but I am not happy. He should play well and better than today. For the strikers it is important to score. But strikers should also play for the team. Not just for Balotelli, for Carlos and Dzeko. They should always play with the team. Afterwards they should try and score. Mario can play better.”
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