Source: Daily_Mail
Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini warns Emmanuel Adebayor ahead of Arsenal clash
Roberto Mancini has warned Emmanuel Adebayor there can be no repeat of the goal celebration that sparked a riot when he faced his old club Arsenal at Eastlands last season. [LNB]Adebayor raced up the field after scoring Manchester City's third goal in a 4-2 win and slid in front of Arsenal's angry fans, who responded by hurling missiles. [LNB]The Togo striker was handed a £25,000 fine and a suspended two-match ban for the celebration, and banned for three games for stamping on former teammate Robin van Persie's face. [LNB] Flash point: Adebayor's now infamous celebration saw him slide on his knees in front of the Arsenal supporters who threw objects at the player they used to call their own[LNB]He is set to start on the bench when Arsenal return to Eastlands tomorrow, despite scoring a hat-trick in Thursday's Europa League win over Lech Poznan. [LNB]Mancini has told him to keep a lid on it as City look to go six points clear of Arsene Wenger's side in second place. [LNB]'It's better to stay calm,' said the City boss. 'This will be a very difficult game because when Arsenal play well they are probably the best team in the Premier League. [LNB]'I don't know if we can be title challengers. Arsenal have played together for many years.' [LNB]City's first-team coach and former Arsenal man David Platt believes Adebayor will behave better this time. [LNB]Enlarge 'We're talking about an incident that was 14 or 15 months ago,' said Platt. 'It was his first game against Arsenal after leaving them in the summer and the tension was flying. [LNB]'It was a long time ago and we aren't worried about a repeat.' [LNB]Goalkeeper Joe Hart believes Adebayor is in the right frame of mind after emerging from a troubled spell at City to score three times against Poznan. [LNB]'If Ade wants to, he wins the game, simple as that,' said Hart. 'It's all about getting his head right.' [LNB]And a subdued Wenger was not in the mood for recriminations over the incident. 'I'm sure we have forgotten that,' said the Arsenal boss. [LNB]'We have played so many games since that we don't even care about that now.' [LNB]What Arsenal do care about is stopping the rot at City tomorrow, as losing to title rivals is becoming a bad habit. [LNB]Arsenal did not pick up a point against Manchester United or Chelsea last season and have already lost to their London rivals in this campaign. [LNB]They fared little better against City, losing 4-2 away last season and only managing a goalless draw on home soil. [LNB]Tomas Rosicky is tipping Mancini's side to be in the mix next May, so the 30-year-old midfielder is acutely aware of the need to win first this season. [LNB]Taking hope from their 5-1 destruction of Shakhtar Donetsk in midweek, Rosicky said: 'We were clinical in front of the goal. That's what you can see we were missing against Chelsea. That's what Chelsea do, they have one chance and they kill you immediately. [LNB]'It's a massive game (against City) and we want to do better than against Chelsea. We cannot always say we are unlucky - it doesn't work like that. It's time to prove we can win those games.' [LNB]Cesc Fabregas is set for his first league start since mid-September after playing for just over an hour against Shakhtar. [LNB]And Wenger, who has told Arsenal shareholders Fabregas is likely to be at the club beyond next summer, will be buoyed by his skipper's latest words on Barcelona.[LNB] Fabregas said: 'I wanted to play for Barcelona but it wasn't possible and that's finished. Now I will always give my best for Arsenal.' Wenger surprised by Roo's decision to stay but Ancelotti wasn't fooledUnited, Spurs and Arsenal keep tabs on Bolton defender Gary Cahill Rooney is now pocketing £200,000, but still he wants us to believe he's... Sorry!ARSENAL FC
