City made the number one slot theirs for Christmas with a 3-0 win over their FA Cup final victims Stoke City and left the manager thinking of the home fans.
“We played really well against a difficult opponent and I am pleased for all our supporters that they will enjoy Christmas with their team top of the table,” he said.
“I have said many times though that it is better to be top of the table in May than it is at this time of the year,”
Mancini’s men have now gone twelve months without defeat at home in all competitions and dropped just two points in that time via a home draw with Fulham.
“It is a good record and something about which we can be proud and shows we are improving and working hard,” the manager conceded.
“It is not easy to play a year without losing in a league as hard as the Barclays Premier League and while home form will be important in whether or not we win the league we must start improving our away record.
In the last two games we have taken only one point and we have to go to West Brom and Sunderland and make sure that we try to stay on top of the table
...Roberto Mancini
“Teams come here like Stoke did in this game and get men behind the ball and they make it very difficult. It was hard for 15 minutes to see where the first goal was coming from but once we got it the game opened up a little.
“I hope teams come here in future with fear because that helps us. For a long time teams have gone to Old Trafford with that kind of fear and now teams play differently against us too. That is a good sign.”
Mancini is confident that Micah Richards will be fit for the holiday programme after he limped off with a calf injury early in the second half.
