Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini believes Manchester United’s determination to avenge last year’s narrow failure has underpinned their drive towards this season’s Premier League title.
On a day when Liverpool striker Luis Suarez created controversy once again, City’s 3-1 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur left Alex Ferguson’s side needing just three points from their remaining five games to clinch the championship.
And they are expected to complete the job when they face struggling Aston Villa at Old Trafford on Monday, 24 hours after City left White Hart Lane empty-handed.
Mancini conceded that City’s fierce rivals were likely to finish top several weeks ago.
Now that the outcome is all but confirmed, he claims the roots of United’s success took hold on the final day of last season, when City were crowned champions thanks to Sergio Aguero’s injury-time goal.
“United are not a better team but they deserve to win this title because we lost a lot of points in games we probably didn’t deserve to lose,” he said.
“But United won a lot of games in a row with goals and deserve to win the title. I think the 13 or 15-point gap is not reality for this championship.
“I think when you win, you deserve to win it. You always need a bit of luck in football. It is like life. But they did not win by luck.
“They had a better attitude because they lost last year. They bought some new team (players) in the summer and they scored a lot of goals. They conceded a lot of goals but they scored more. It is important.”
City can still win a third trophy in three years by beating Wigan Athletic in the FA Cup final on May 11, but Mancini said his primary target had been the title.
“I’m not happy because I like to win the championship, because this was our target when we started the season,” he said.
City looked on course for victory at Spurs when Samir Nasri scored in the fifth minute, but Tottenham recovered, scoring three goals in seven minutes to claim a victory that moves them to within two points of third-placed Arsenal with a game in hand.
Clint Dempsey levelled in the 75th minute before Jermain Defoe and Gareth Bale secured the win and manager Andre Villas-Boas believes his side are now in control of the battle for a top-four spot – but conceded it was a difficult task.
At Anfield, interim Chelsea manager Rafael Benitez was granted a warm reception on his return to the club he led to glory in the 2005 Champions League.
The Spaniard has failed to win over the fans of his current club, but he saw Chelsea take a 26th-minute lead when Oscar scored with a near-post header from a Juan Mata corner.
Liverpool introduced Daniel Sturridge at half-time and the former Chelsea player had an immediate impact, hitting the post from 20 yards and then netting an equaliser in the 52nd minute.
Suarez created the goal with a sumptuous cross but the Uruguayan gifted Chelsea an opportunity to restore their lead five minutes later by inexplicably handling a high ball inside the area.
Eden Hazard duly converted the ensuing penalty and Suarez sparked fresh acrimony when he appeared to sink his teeth into Ivanovic’s upper arm during a penalty-box tussle.
Referee Kevin Friend did not see the incident and Suarez finished the game by heading a dramatic equaliser past Cech in the seventh minute of stoppage time.