A Carlos Tevez hat-trick helped the Blues to a comprehensive 6-1 victory, this in the wake of the manager’s pre-match warnings that it would not be easy against Paul Lambert’s spirited outfit.
“I think we gave a fantastic performance, because it was not easy to win here. I said before the game that Norwich had been playing well, but we needed to finish the season well and we have scored another six goals today away from home. We’re starting to play very well again,” noted the boss with some understatement.
“Carlos has improved a lot over the last two weeks, he played 60 minutes against West Brom and 80 today. He’s a lot better now. We were without him for five months, and if we had him along with Mario and Dzeko then maybe we would have scored more goals.”
And when asked whether City were still in the hunt for the title, Mancini echoed his teasing of the media this week by responding, “No, it’s finished!”
“I think it is too late, I am happy now we play like we did in the first 28 games now we don’t have a few players with injuries,” he said.
“For me it is important we finish this season well and have as many points from now until the end but I think all the team were terrific, I mean Tevez scored three goals and Aguero two but this is their job so I am happy.
“I have had Carlos for only the last few games and now, like I said, he is better. Everyone can make a mistake but I think it is important when you apologise that your manager forgives you because it is impossible to be perfect.
“Nobody is perfect; all of us can make mistakes.”
Paul Lambert, the Norwich boss, felt the scoreline was little harsh but admired City’s class.
“I think for 70-odd minutes we were well in the game. At 2-1 we looked really good and in the second half we played really well but if you’re losing four goals in that space of time it was poor from our point of view. The effort was there in abundance, as it always is, but maybe the scoreline was severe,” he said.
“You can’t legislate for losing three goals in seven minutes, and we’ll learn from it. You take your medicine and you bounce back. Their strike force is incredible, the first two goals were world class. Our team have done brilliantly, I can’t be too harsh on them.”
