Roberto Mancini Dismisses Manchester City's Title Hopes Despite Wednesday Win

Manchester United lost. Manchester City won.

Wednesday made the Premier League title race just a little bit more interesting—for everyone except City manager Roberto Mancini.

Despite his team closing the gap at the top of the league to just five points with their 4-0 demolition of West Brom, Mancini reiterated his belief that City will not catch Sir Alex Ferguson's Red Devils over the last five games of the season.

"I think the title is still over," Mancini told the club's official website, "because United are a fantastic team and I don't think they can lose five points."

The statement came on the same day that Manchester United dropped three points in a 1-0 defeat where they were outplayed by relegation-threatened Wigan.

Mancini reasoned the difference in the teams was down to team spirit, saying, "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."

If the team lacks spirit, many supporters will put it down to the mangled man-management displayed by Mancini in his handling of both Carlos Tevez and Mario Balotelli this season.

Or perhaps the Italian manager is simply taking a page out of the playbook of Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola, who has seen his team more than halve a 10-point gap at the top of La Liga over the past month while their manager steadily dismissed their title chances.

City will look to heap pressure on the EPL leaders next Saturday when they travel to Norwich City. A victory for Mancini's men will reduce United's lead to two points as the leaders kick off against Aston Villa the following day.