Tevez dedicates Wigan hat-trick to Man City fans
Published 23:00 30/03/10 By David Anderson
Carlos Tevez claims his hat-trick against Wigan is his thank you to the Manchester City fans for their support.
Manchester City 3-0 Wigan: Daily Mirror match report
Tevez will always be grateful to the fans for the backing they gave him when his new-born daughter was ill.
The striker was granted compassionate leave last month by the club to return home to Argentina to be at the hospital bedside of little Katie, who was born prematurely.
Katie is making a good recovery after those dark days and Tevez was lifted by all the goodwill messages he received from the fans.
Their support cemented the strong bond between him and the fans and he wants to pay them back with goals.
The Argentina international has been on fire since he returned from South America and his second City treble against the Latics took his tally to six in his five games back.
“I have a great feeling for the supporters of City and I want to win for them,” he said. “The best way to thank them for their support is by scoring goals for them.
“All the goals I have scored are for the fans and the team. It feels great to be here and get all this support and when I go on the pitch.”
Family man Tevez dedicated his hat-trick to his eldest daughter Florencia and he celebrated by showing his shinpads, bearing her pet name Flopy, to the TV cameras.
He already has one match ball at home and says he will have a kick about with Flopy with the latest addition to his trophy collection.
“What was written on my shin pad was the name of my daughter,” he said. “I’m happy to take the match ball home and I will take it home for my daughters to play with.”
Tevez, 26, is City’s lucky talisman in their race for fourth and a Champions League spot.
Nineteen of the 25 goals he has scored in his 35 appearances for City have come in the league and City have never lost a top-flight game when he has found the back of the net.
His goals have helped the Blues to 10 wins and a draw in the Premier League and he is just as important to Roberto Mancini’s side as Wayne Rooney is to Manchester United.
Rooney’s former team-mate was delighted with his 12-minute hat-trick, claiming it is the fastest of his prolific career, but says he is hungry for more goals.
“I feel I’m in really good form and playing the way I want to play,” he said. “I feel excellent about my game at the moment.
“The most important thing is that I’m very happy with the goals I have scored. That is the fastest hat-trick I’ve ever scored and that pleases me.
“I’m very happy with the 25 goals I have scored so far, but I still want to get more goals. But the most important thing is to achieve fourth place for the team.”
Tevez aims to continue his red-hot streak at Burnley on Saturday when Gareth Barry will return after his breather.
Mancini was keen to give the England midfielder a rest in anticipation of losing Pablo Zabaleta and Nigel de Jong to suspension.
Zabaleta fell off his disciplinary tightrope when he picked up his 10th booking of the campaign against Wigan and the Spaniard will miss the trip to Turf Moor and the home clash with Birmingham on Sunday week.
De Jong will join him in the sin bin if he collects another caution against Burnley or Birmingham and Mancini claims it was important to give Barry a rest when he could.
“We rested Barry because he has played a lot this season and he needed a rest with seven important games coming up,” said the City manager. “Pablo and Nigel were close to getting suspensions before the game, so it was important to rest Gareth with that in mind.”
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