Manchester City have denied they have accepted Mario Balotelli's sending-off at West Brom and insist they still hope the decision will be overturned. The striker was shown a straight red for seemingly kicking Youssuf Mulumbu during City's 2-0 win at The Hawthorns. Reports had claimed City would not contest the 20-year-old's dismissal, only the automatic three-match ban. But the club will have their appeal against the red card heard by the Football Association on Tuesday. "Manchester City can confirm that we have [on Monday] submitted an appeal following the dismissal of Mario Balotelli for violent conduct during Sunday's 2-0 victory at West Bromwich Albion," read a City statement. Balotelli scored twice and picked up a yellow card before his dismissal. City boss Mancini felt Balotelli should not have been awarded a red card, which would keep him out of Wednesday's match against Manchester United at Eastlands. "I absolutely do not agree with the referee about this sending-off," Mancini said. "A red card for what?" The Italian added: "He played a fantastic game, he scored two goals, but the sending off was very strange. "I want to know why it was a direct red card. For me this is not correct and the referee must explain. "I am angry because I explained to [Balotelli] before the game, pay attention with the referee. I wanted to change Adam Johnson for Mario but I didn't have time to make the change." City's much-needed victory came off the back of three consecutive defeats in all competitions and lifted the Champions League-chasing club up to fourth position in the Premier League table. Along with the return from injury of captain Carlos Tevez, the win owed much to Balotelli's first-half brace. But, in receiving a straight red card minutes after getting a yellow for a tangling with Marek Cech, the Italian lived up to the controversial reputation he developed while playing for Inter Milan. "The performance was fantastic," said Mancini. "The guy's played very good football, but we also did in Poland when we lost 3-1. "[But this win] was very important, they are three good points. We always had the ball. I'm very happy. And the fans were amazing." West Brom also finished the match with 10 men after Mulumbu was dismissed for sliding through the back of Tevez. It means the Baggies have now picked up three red cards in a week, after being reduced to nine men at Blackpool on Monday. But manager Roberto Di Matteo stressed that he had no complaints about the decision to send off Mulumbu, or Balotelli. "I think the referee was in a good position on the [Balotelli] sending-off," stated the Baggies boss. "My player wasn't happy with the challenge and the official was there. "In terms of the second one, for my player, I think there was no doubt about it." Di Matteo added that he believes his side were beaten by a squad of players who can still challenge for the title. "They definitely are [contenders], if you look at the amount of quality players they have," he commented. "With the bench they had [including James Milner, Emmanuel Adebayor and Adam Johnson] - the players that can come on and change a game, and the ones they have on the pitch already." Source: BBC