A headed goal from Luke Moore in the 82nd minute condemned City to defeat at the Liberty Stadium, meaning that the Blues are now behind Manchester United in the race for the title after their local rivals won at home to West Brom.
The hosts had the upper hand early on, and City were grateful when Joe Hart saved a Scott Sinclair penalty. City seemed to be gaining control, but as the game progressed they could not create many clear-cut chances before Swansea hit them with a sucker punch.
“Swansea played very well for the first 30 minutes,” said Mancini, “they were aggressive and had a lot of possession. Later on in the first half, and then the second, we controlled the game and had some chances, and we should have scored. Then we have made a mistake at the end and conceded their goal.
“We had plenty of chances in the second half, but if we create chances we need to score from them! If you don’t and you also make mistakes, like against Sporting you can pay by conceding a goal. I don’t think we deserved another result like this, but now we can do nothing.”
Mancini made an alteration to City’s approach by substituting Gareth Barry in the first half, replacing him with Sergio Aguero in a move that did appear to improve matters.
The Manager explained, “We were getting a lot of possession, and we needed another striker. It was not easy for Mario on his own, so I made the change for that reason.”
Despite falling behind United, Mancini insists that there is a long way to go in City’s quest for a first league title since 1968.
“There are 10 games to go, and it’s important we start to score and win again. Some players may be tired after seven months of the season, but I think we have a lot of energy to get back to the top.
“It all depends on us; we have 10 games and anything could happen. We have to be strong, when you’re at the top it’s easy, when you’re not you have to be strong.”
