Mancini pleased, not elated with City

Roberto Mancini was pleased but hardly getting carried away after Manchester City clinched a Europa League knockout stage spot.

Mancini’s side were rarely troubled in a 3-0 romp of Red Bull Salzburg on Wednesday that booked a spot in the last 32 of the competition.

City’s Italian boss will now turn his attention to the English Premier League, where his side sit fourth and five points behind league-leading city rivals Manchester United.

“I am glad we are through as we can now focus on the Barclays Premier League,” Mancini told reporters.

“We could have had a better result had we converted our three or four chances in the first half.”

European summer signing Mario Balotelli snared a crucial double for Manchester City, but Mancini was not all praise over the performance of his Italian marksman.

“That is just him. It is normal for him as he does it every day in training. He came off with a little knock,” he said.

“I think he can improve on that performance. He could run more and take more of his chances. He might have got two or three more goals.”

The scorer of City’s other goal – Adam Johnson – looked threatening again and scored a terrific goal but, once again, Mancini was playing things down.

“He scored a good goal tonight and I’m happy for him because he’s a good guy. But like Mario, he can play better,” he said.

Mancini’s squad now have the luxury of being able to rest players against Juventus when they play their last group stage fixture in Turin on December 16.