Mancini gave his smiling stars an extra day off after two goals each from dynamic duo Carlos Tevez and Craig Bellamy ripped apart Premier League leaders Chelsea’s unbeaten home record.
But the manager, charged with hoisting City into the Champions League elite for next season, refused to be carried away by the outstanding performance and result of the weekend.
He had assured a team short of Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor that they were still more than capable of wrecking Chelsea’s proud home record to follow up December’s 2-1 triumph at City.
Roberto insisted: “For us, winning at Chelsea should be a normality - win there, win at Liverpool ... if we want to be a top team, that is how it should be.
“I spoke with the players before the game and told them we had a very good chance. We were playing at Stamford Bridge, a fantastic stadium, but we have a good team, very good players. Why should we not win?”
He added that his confidence of an upset had not been dented during a first half in which the title favourites hogged possession and threatened far more than Frank Lampard’s opener.
The boss reckoned: “It is normal - we were playing at Stamford Bridge, and you have to defend very well. What is important is the score at the end of the game ...
“We conceded the first goal, but that’s also normal against Chelsea. We equalised before half time and then the second half was a fantastic performance.”
City face tricky matches at Sunderland and Fulham before the next home game with Wigan. Mancini added: “I don’t know if we will finish fourth but we have a good chance. It was important to win at Chelsea - we needed the three points.”
