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Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini and Carlos Tévez in furious half-time bust-up

Roberto Mancini’s fractious relationship with Carlos Tévez led to the pair clashing at half-time during Manchester City’s 2-1 victory against Newcastle on Sunday, with Mancini threatening to substitute his captain during the dressing-room row.

Roberto Mancini and Carlos Tevez were embrolied in a heated half-time exchange
Heated: Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini (pictured) has been criticised before by Carlos Tévez Credit: Photo: ACTION IMAGES

Tévez, who had given City the lead with a first-half penalty, is understood to have angered Mancini by addressing his team-mates when the manager walked in to give his half-time team-talk.

The pair then argued vociferously, with players and coaching staff stepping in to calm the situation, before Mancini left the changing room for his office close by the players’ tunnel.

Tévez, who has publicly criticised Mancini’s training methods and the decision to allow Craig Bellamy to be loaned to Cardiff City in August, then cleared the air with the Italian before returning to the pitch for the second-half.

Sources at City have dismissed the row as nothing more than typical of those played out in dressing-rooms throughout the Premier League and Mancini’s assistant, Brian Kidd, suggested that the heated scenes merely underlined the players’ determination to win the game.

Kidd said: “There was an awful lot said between the group at half-time, but the lads showed a great response in the second-half. It showed how badly they wanted to win.”