Football: City must make inroads quickly says Mancini

“We hope maybe we can play the derby nine points, seven points, even 10 points behind,” says Mancini.

MANCHESTER: Manchester City must reduce the 12-point deficit at the top of the English Premier League before the upcoming Manchester derby to have any hope of keeping their title, Roberto Mancini said yesterday. The City manager currently trails Alex Ferguson and Manchester United ahead of City’s weekend visit to Everton and the leaders’ home game with struggling Reading. City’s collapse at the start of the year, in which a five-point disadvantage quickly grew to a dozen, means that, even with seven fixtures remaining after the derby, Mancini’s only hope lies in United dropping points in their next two fixtures. “We hope maybe we can play the derby nine points, seven points, even 10 points behind,” said Mancini. “Less than 12 would be better because from the derby to the end of the season, they have three or four difficult games.”

Published in The Express Tribune, March 16^th, 2013.