Both Carlos Tevez and Roberto Mancini will be licking their wounds during the international break fortnight, after Man City’s shock defeat at the hands of Sunderland on Sunday.

Tevez, who notched a brace in City’s 3-0 win over Liverpool a week earlier, fluffed a golden chance to give City the lead against the Black Cats. The Argentine might have thought there was black magic at play at the Stadium of Light, as he inexplicably managed to side foot his shot wide from just eight yards of Sunderland’s unguarded net.

Roberto Mancini, Tevez’s manager, expressed the same look of disbelief as the Argentine and the former Sampdoria and Italy striker, must have wondered how Tevez contrived to miss the simplest of chances. Had Tevez scored in the 16th minute, City would have been well on their way to a romp.

City have spent £126 million this summer to bring in six players, taking the total transfer spending by their Abu Dhabi benefactors to £325.5 million. Steve Bruce, on the other hand, has had to make do with the loan signings of Danny Welbeck, John Mensah and City’s Nedum Onuoha this summer.

Bruce’s pre-game remarks highlighted the financial gulf between the sides. “I went to watch them against Liverpool on Monday when they won 3-0, when they played fantastically well, and five of their subs cost £100 million and behind me there were five people sat in suits who cost about £100 million too,” joked Bruce.

Yet, it was Bruce, who had the last laugh on Sunday. Mancini, on the hand has little to smile about. Three games into the BPL season, the Italian does not know the identity of his starting XI. With all the new transfers, it will be another month or two before Mancini decides on this. What’s more, Mancini must be man enough to admit that he is lucky to have four points from City’s first three matches.

Man City were fortunate not to lose against Spurs on opening day - due to Joe Hart’s fantastic display - and their only win so far this season was against a disjointed Liverpool, who hours before their clash were rocked by Javier Mascherano’s refusal to play.

City host Blackburn next and Big Sam will have his charges fired up for an upset. Allardyce’s game plan would surely be to harass and hustle City – more footbrawl than football. Although City have flair players such as Silva and Adebayor, will they be able to mix it up against one of the BPL’s more physical sides who will employ an aerial ping-pong approach to nullify City’s slick passing game?

And is Mancini the right manager for City? The Italian has been given far longer a time in charge than his predecessor, Mark Hughes, but how much more time will he get from his Abu Dhabi bosses? Surely, if Man City are more then eight points adrift from top spot or outside the top four after the first ten games, then Mancini will inevitably receive his marching orders.

After spending over £300 million on players, both Sheikh Mansour and City supporters must surely be demanding a combination of silverware, a UEFA Champions League spot and a title challenge this season. Anything less is a failure.