Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini insists he believes Manchester United will still win the Premier League title despite closing the gap to five points on Wednesday night and comments he made earlier this week stating the race is still open.
The Italian tactician saw his side easily account for West Bromwich 4-0 on Wednesday, while the Red Devils surprisingly went down 1-0 to Wigan to see the gap close.
With another Manchester derby to be played this season, the Sky Blues could close the gap even more, but Mancini insisted he felt United would go on and win the title.
“I think the title is still over because United are a fantastic team and I don’t think they can lose five points,” Mancini said despite having stated earlier this week it wasn’t over and his team would fight until the end.
“I will fight every day and so will my team, but I think it’s too late. I think United have fantastic spirit, we don’t have the same spirit. For us it’s important to finish the season well. It’s been a good season for us, our best since 1968 when Manchester City won the championship.”
Meanwhile, United boss Sir Alex Ferguson, who saw his side go down to Shaun Maloney’s strike, said it was an off night.
“We were completely dominated by Wigan; by playing three centre-backs they had a lot of time to build from the back,” he conceded. “We went against them a bit more in the second half, but in the first half we were dominated. It was an off-night that you sometimes get in football.”
Ferguson also slammed referee Phil Dowd for not giving his side a penalty when Maynor Figueroa handballed.