From staring a four-point deficit in the face, long-time league leaders City pulled a 2-1 victory out of the fire against Chelsea, the-85th minute winner from Samir Nasri being superbly created by the quick-thinking of back-in-favour Carlos Tevez.
They now trail by just a point and victory, or even a draw at Stoke, would allow City to retake the lead, at least until United host Fulham on Monday.
Tevez has hardly been missed at City this season, such has been the club's form in his absence since he refused to come off the bench in a Champions League match in Munich in September.
However, City's lead at the top has evaporated because of patchy away form and a lack of goals and suddenly Tevez, whose 24 goals helped the club to the FA Cup and third place in the league last season, looks as though he could still play a decisive role in what has been a traumatic season.
"Carlos is two or three weeks away from full fitness but he showed his football brain in the minutes that he was on the pitch," Mancini told the club's website.
"He will be an important player for us. He has been back a month now and is in the dressing room happy like all the players."
"There are no problems with injuries," manager Sir Alex Ferguson told the club's official website. "It's much better now. There was Jones getting that bout of 'flu but he's back.
"He'll be available [for the Fulham game]. They're all training apart from Nani, who should not be far away and might start training this week."
