Manchester: Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp blasted Mario Balotelli after the Manchester City striker appeared to kick Scott Parker in the head during his side’s 3-2 win at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
Italian striker Balotelli avoided censure from the referee following an apparent stamp on Spurs midfielder Parker in the 84th minute and went on to score the winner from the penalty spot deep into added time.
Redknapp was furious that Balotelli escaped unpunished 10 minutes before his match-winner, accusing him of deliberately kicking Scott Parker. Having just been booked for a sliding challenge on Benoit Assou-Ekotto, even a second yellow card would have led to Balotelli's dismissal.
"Having looked at it, it’s not the first time he has done that, is it? And I’m sure it won’t be the last," said Redknapp. "He was annoyed he didn’t win the challenge and now Scott has a nasty cut on his face."
"I’m the last person to talk about things like that. I don’t like talking about people being kicked. I have got my own opinions. I don’t like people kicking people in the head on the football pitch. What reason did he have to backheel Scott in the head? It’s not a nice thing to do."
"It’s wrong. I don’t like seeing people react like that to a challenge. I’m surprised the officials didn’t see it."
The 64-year-old saw his side go two goals down, only for the Londoners to launch a fightback through strikes from Jermain Defoe and Gareth Bale in a whirlwind 10-minute spell.
Spurs even came close to snatching all three points moments before Balotelli’s late winner, as Defoe failed to connect cleanly with Bale's cross when presented with an empty net.
A loss leaves the Londoners eight points behind Premier League leaders City in third place, and Redknapp conceded his side’s title chances are now slim.
"It’s going to be hard to win the title," he added. "All I have said is we’ve got a chance and you saw today that there is not much between the teams. We are not a million miles behind Man City but now there’s obviously lots of points between us."
"We looked like we were going to score the winning goal at one end, then they scored it at the other. Gareth played a perfect ball to him. Jermain straightened to run inside and lost half a yard there, so he couldn’t quite get to it."
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