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Roberto Mancini: we've made some mistakes. Getty images
Blue Monday

Title race could be over by next week, says Mancini

It’s a big if but Manchester City could be eight points adrift by the time they face Arsenal on Sunday.

ROBERTO MANCINI ADMITS Manchester City’s title bid will be over if Manchester United win their next two games.

Alex Ferguson’s side face Blackburn Rovers tonight before hosting QPR on Sunday, while City face a trip to Arsenal later that same day.

Victory for United in both games would move them eight points clear at the top of the Premier League before City kick off against Arsene Wenger’s side at the Emirates.

“If we go eight points behind then it is finished,” Mancini said. ”It’s clear we are disappointed. We have made some mistakes, me and the team. We have also been unlucky, like losing three or four key players at an important moment.

“But when you are a strong team you should be able to pass these difficult moments. Yet football can change in two or three games. I had an experience in Italy with Inter Milan when we were five points behind with five games to go yet we still went on to win the title.”

However, captain Vincent Kompany has insisted that City are still in with a shout of the title despite United’s advantage.

“We’d have to finish the job by beating them (United) at home,” he said. ”We’ll still keep believing, it’s just not as easy as it was.”

Edin Dzeko is also refusing to give up hope of Manchester City winning the Premier League title despite dropping more points at the weekend against Sunderland. City found themselves 3-1 down at home to the Mackems but salvaged a late point with goals from Mario Balotelli and Aleksandar Kolarov.

And the Bosnian international believes Mancini’s men must now beat Arsenal this weekend to still have a chance of securing top spot at the end of the season.

“There are seven games to play, and the way we dropped points, United can drop points as well, so everything is still open,” Dzeko said. ”We need to go from game to game and try to win every match. The next is Arsenal. We will play to win and then we will see.

“They are fighting for a Champions League place and are a top team, so it won’t be easy. It should be a good, open game. Maybe we thought Saturday was going to be easy. We had won all our home games so maybe we thought we could count on all three points – but it’s not like that, and you have to fight for every point.

“It is an important game for Blackburn as well so everything is possible. We lost points on Saturday, and they could drop them at Blackburn or somewhere else.”

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