English Premier League: Mancini ready to concede title to United

City manager rearing for win against Chelsea despite dashed title hopes.

MANCHESTER:

Roberto Mancini says Manchester City are continuing to make progress under his leadership even though he is ready to concede the English Premier League title race this weekend.

City will start today’s home game with Chelsea 15 points behind Manchester United now that Alex Ferguson’s side have won 2-0 against bottom club Queens Park Rangers.

Should City fail to defeat Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium, then Mancini says the title race will be over, with 11 games remaining after the weekend.

Yet whatever the outcome, the Italian says City are making progress and he will only quit if he can no longer move them forward.

“If I didn’t win for two or three years I would say to the club ‘I don’t want to stay’ because after two or three years of not winning, I would leave,” said Mancini. “I couldn’t continue to stay here. But I think that what we did in the last two years is important for the club.

“Nine months ago we won the Premier League. Six months ago we won the Community Shield. Now we have another two chances. Maybe the Premier League will be difficult, but we have the FA Cup. Hopefully, if we can take second place, that would not be a bad season, like United last year.”

City captain Vincent Kompany could miss a fifth successive game with a calf injury while midfielder Gareth Barry is a doubt with an ankle problem sustained during last week’s FA Cup win over Leeds while keeper Joe Hart is set to return.

Like Mancini, Rafael Benitez, the interim Chelsea manager, is also convinced his side has progressed in recent months and believes they are capable of overhauling City and claiming second place behind United.

“We are confident we can beat City if we do things the right way,” said Benitez. “We are creating chances in every game. If we do, we’ll be closer.

Meanwhile, Southampton will visit Newcastle in the other fixture of the day while the Liverpool-Swansea clash has been postponed.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 24^th, 2013.