Mancini was full of praise for his players who recovered from the early sending-off of Vincent Kompany and the concession of three first-half goals to make their neighbours sweat on the result until the very end of a gripping third-round match.
"I am disappointed with the result but I am very happy with my players for their performance," Mancini told a news conference.
"We defended very well in the second half, they did not have a chance and we scored two goals. It is not easy to play with 10 players against United."
"After the way we played and the character we showed I think we can win the league now," he said. "To play like that against a team like United with only 10 players is very good."
"It was a careless performance by us," he said. "We made mistakes in the second half and they punished us. That's what can happen if you make mistakes."
"We set up to hit them on the break and that's what we were able to do with the three goals," he said. "The sending-off changed the game but I thought it was the correct decision. He's gone in two-footed."
"The problem was being 3-0 up at half-time the players thought they were through and took their foot off the pedal," he said.
