Mancini: EPL race not over yet

Fighting words ... Roberto Mancini says his side can still retain their EPL title. Source: Clint Hughes / AAP

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini feels his side's FA Cup fifth-round win over Leeds United could help rejuvenate their Premier League title bid.

City produced a strong performance to beat Leeds 4-0, with Sergio Aguero scoring twice and further goals from Carlos Tevez and Yaya Toure securing a passage to the competition's last eight.

Mancini felt the result was reward for his team's concentration during a comfortable win over Leeds that the Italian hopes will also help inspire his players to break down Manchester United's 12-point advantage in the race for the league championship.

		P	W	D	L	GD	Pts
1	Man United	26	21	2	3	31	65
2	Man City	26	15	8	3	24	53
3	Chelsea	26	14	7	5	27	49
4	Tottenham	26	14	6	6	14	48
5	Arsenal	26	12	8	6	21	44
6	Everton	26	10	12	4	8	42
7	Liverpool	27	10	9	8	15	39
8	Swansea	27	9	10	8	4	37
9	West Brom	26	11	4	11	1	37
10	Stoke	26	7	12	7	-5	33
11	West Ham	26	8	6	12	-9	30
12	Fulham	26	7	8	11	-6	29
13	Sunderland	26	7	8	11	-6	29
14	Norwich	26	6	11	9	-15	29
15	Southampton	26	6	9	11	-9	27
16	Newcastle	26	7	6	13	-12	27
17	Aston Villa	26	5	9	12	-25	24
18	Reading	26	5	8	13	-15	23
19	Wigan	26	5	6	15	-21	21
20	QPR	26	2	11	13	-22	17

"It was really important to win this game and if you score two goals in the first 20 minutes it is clearly easier," he said.

"If he (Aguero) scores a lot of goals from now until the end, the championship is not finished."

Leeds manager Neil Warnock was not happy with City's second goal, an Aguero penalty awarded by referee Mark Clattenburg after he had adjudged Tom Lees to have fouled the Argentine striker in the box.

Contact between the two looked minimal, but Aguero stopped playing after Lees' arm made contact with his face.

Mancini, though, insisted he did not have a good view of the incident but that the result was the right one.

"It (the foul for the penalty) was difficult to see from the bench. I didn't see it," he said. "The game finished 4-0 and I don't think we gave them many chances to score.

"I think the result is correct. I don't know if the penalty was correct, I will see it again but I can't say at the moment."

Read more: http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11679/8506611/Manchester-City-manager-Roberto-Mancini-hoping-for-an-FA-Cup-spark

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