Manchester United may have moved eight points clear of Manchester City on the weekend, but Sky Blues boss Roberto Mancini insists the title race is not over just yet.
City have managed just two points in their past three games to slip well behind United, who won 2-0 at QPR on Sunday while Mancini’s men later went down 1-0 to Arsenal.
United must still face City, but the eight-point gap is significant leading many to pundits to claim it is a fait accompli now for Sir Alex Ferguson’s side. However, Mancini insisted his side will fight to the end.
“It’s [the title] not over. In football it’s never finished,” he said.
“For this reason, I believe always. But we did a fantastic season and we need to finish well.
“It’s not easy, but we need to think positively. I’m proud of all my players for what we did until today.
“We now need to continue to win to get the maximum points we can. Then we will see.
“I will never say we can’t win the league if there is still a chance. That is not my life, never.”
Mancini also refused to be drawn on the possibility of United clinching the title at Manchester City when they meet in a few weeks time.
He said: “I don’t know this. I just know today we have 15 points more than we had at this stage last year. So I can say we did well.
“Now it’s clearly difficult for us to win the title. But we hope they can lose three or four points before the derby and after that we’ll see. I repeat, six games to the end. 18 points. Never say never.”
City host West Bromwich and United go to Wigan in Wednesday’s league fixtures.