Much will be written about the trip to Abu Dhabi in the middle of a season and the logic of landing back in the country 21 hours before a match. But was City's mid-season jaunt behind their staggering loss to Middlesbrough? It would certainly appear so. Manuel Pellegrini watches on as his Manchester City side were beaten 2-0 by Middlesbrough on Saturday . But the City boss refused to blame their week-long trip to Abu Dhabi for the FA Cup defeat . City players James Milner (left), Dedryck Boyata (centre) and Fernando look dejected after their side concede . In the first half there was little evidence of what was to follow. The hosts were probed and pressed throughout and if it was not for the heroics of Boro keeper Tomas Mejias they would have been out of sight. However, after the break it was a different story. The buoyant visitors seemed to hit a visibly tiring home side at will on the break. Had it not been for some fine stops from Willy Caballero and a post denying the effervescent Lee Tomlin a goal of the season contender, they would have made the scoreline look even worse than 2-0. At one stage a frustrated Aleksandar Kolarov seemed to just stop what he was doing. It looked as though their minds were still in Abu Dhabi. Patrick Bamford raced through to put Middlesbrough ahead early in the second half . The on-loan Chelsea striker celebrates after scoring Boro's opening goal against Manchester City . Middlesbrough substitute Kike celebrates after scoring in stoppage time to seal his side's FA Cup passage . When the board came up to tell us four minutes were to be added on we expected one final onslaught, but it simply did not come. If anything, it was the visitors who finished the stronger of the two and the game was up long before Kike sealed the deal. City may point to a lack of match fitness to key players such as Vincent Kompany and Sergio Aguero. Dedryck Boyata looked nervy as did Caballero. The City squad are put through their paces during their warm-weather training camp trip to Abu Dhabi . Manager Pellegrini and his players arrived back in Manchester at about 8pm on Friday night . David Silva and Vincent Kompany headed straight to the club's training base to prepare for Saturday's game . But this was a team that should not be beaten by Middlesbrough, as superb as Aitor Karaoke's men were. Can a seven-hour flight in business class and a four-hour time difference have such an impact? City will deny it but this, as we are told time and time again, is a game of fine margins. Defeat, and the trip to Abu Dhabi will linger. The champions' FA Cup hopes have faded before their tans.
Manchester City lost 2-0 to Middlesbrough in their FA Cup third round tie .
Goals from Patrick Bamford and Kike sealed a deserved win for Boro .
The champions went on a mid-season warm-weather training camp to Abu Dhabi during the international break .
However, they arrived back in the UK just 21 hours before the cup clash .
City players weren't at the races and their minds looked elsewhere as they were easily beaten by the Championship outfit .
Much will be written about the trip to Abu Dhabi in the middle of a season and the logic of landing back in the country 21 hours before a match. But was City's mid-season jaunt behind their staggering loss to Middlesbrough? It would certainly appear so. Manuel Pellegrini watches on as his Manchester City side were beaten 2-0 by Middlesbrough on Saturday . But the City boss refused to blame their week-long trip to Abu Dhabi for the FA Cup defeat . City players James Milner (left), Dedryck Boyata (centre) and Fernando look dejected after their side concede . In the first half there was little evidence of what was to follow. The hosts were probed and pressed throughout and if it was not for the heroics of Boro keeper Tomas Mejias they would have been out of sight. However, after the break it was a different story. The buoyant visitors seemed to hit a visibly tiring home side at will on the break. Had it not been for some fine stops from Willy Caballero and a post denying the effervescent Lee Tomlin a goal of the season contender, they would have made the scoreline look even worse than 2-0. At one stage a frustrated Aleksandar Kolarov seemed to just stop what he was doing. It looked as though their minds were still in Abu Dhabi. Patrick Bamford raced through to put Middlesbrough ahead early in the second half . The on-loan Chelsea striker celebrates after scoring Boro's opening goal against Manchester City . Middlesbrough substitute Kike celebrates after scoring in stoppage time to seal his side's FA Cup passage . When the board came up to tell us four minutes were to be added on we expected one final onslaught, but it simply did not come. If anything, it was the visitors who finished the stronger of the two and the game was up long before Kike sealed the deal. City may point to a lack of match fitness to key players such as Vincent Kompany and Sergio Aguero. Dedryck Boyata looked nervy as did Caballero. The City squad are put through their paces during their warm-weather training camp trip to Abu Dhabi . Manager Pellegrini and his players arrived back in Manchester at about 8pm on Friday night . David Silva and Vincent Kompany headed straight to the club's training base to prepare for Saturday's game . But this was a team that should not be beaten by Middlesbrough, as superb as Aitor Karaoke's men were. Can a seven-hour flight in business class and a four-hour time difference have such an impact? City will deny it but this, as we are told time and time again, is a game of fine margins. Defeat, and the trip to Abu Dhabi will linger. The champions' FA Cup hopes have faded before their tans.
landing back in the country 21 hours before a as his Manchester City side were beaten 2-0 by Dhabi for the FA Cup defeat . City players James minds were still in Abu Dhabi. Patrick Bamford before Kike sealed the deal. City may point to a put through their paces during their warm-weather training camp trip to Abu Dhabi . Manager Pellegrini and his players arrived back in beaten by Middlesbrough, as superb as Aitor will linger. The champions' FA Cup hopes have