Work-shy Blues come crashing back to earth

Wimbledon 4

CITY'S over confident fall guys will think twice before getting carried away again.

Two convincing victories going into this game evidently left the Blues believing they were nigh on invincible.

They strolled around Maine Road waiting for something to happen - and it did!

City's body language during the game and boss Kevin Keegan's verbal language after it were damning. They both told that City thought they just needed to go on the pitch and they would win.

Ali Benarbia would work his magic or they would feed Shaun Goater and The Goat would eat up his usual chance or two.

None of it happened because they did not make it happen and City will continue to have days like this if they continue to play with their egos and not with their heads and their hearts.

Wimbledon sniffed their chance of victory and they made City pay with two first half goals and then rubbed their noses in it with two late strikes.

One thing City will learn from this setback is that they are not the same team and Goater is not the same player without the dominant influence of Paolo Wanchope who will be out for six weeks while he recovers from a cartilage operation.

Keegan said: "I would say we were lethargic. We went out there waiting for something to happen and whoever you play, if you play like we did, then you're going to have a real struggle whether it's home or away, and that's a big lesson of this division." CITY'S over confident fall guys will think twice before getting carried away again.

Two convincing victories going into this game evidently left the Blues believing they were nigh on invincible.

They strolled around Maine Road waiting for something to happen - and it did!

City's body language during the game and boss Kevin Keegan's verbal language after it were damning. They both told that City thought they just needed to go on the pitch and they would win.

Ali Benarbia would work his magic or they would feed Shaun Goater and The Goat would eat up his usual chance or two.

None of it happened because they did not make it happen and City will continue to have days like this if they continue to play with their egos and not with their heads and their hearts.

Wimbledon sniffed their chance of victory and they made City pay with two first half goals and then rubbed their noses in it with two late strikes.

One thing City will learn from this setback is that they are not the same team and Goater is not the same player without the dominant influence of Paolo Wanchope who will be out for six weeks while he recovers from a cartilage operation.

Keegan said: "I would say we were lethargic. We went out there waiting for something to happen and whoever you play, if you play like we did, then you're going to have a real struggle whether it's home or away, and that's a big lesson of this division."

Wimbledon manager Terry Burton is slightly less intense, and he was delighted with his side's third successive away win.

Burton feels playing away suits his side's style better.

"It was a great atmosphere here, and West Brom last week was also a terrific atmosphere," he said. "I think that gives the players a little bit extra, doesn't it?" Maybe the fact that the other team comes at you more helps."

"When we're at home we're expected to win, so we're attacking - whereas away from home teams come at us a bit more and you have a bit more space to get in behind them."