Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini relished his side's latest goalfest after the Sky Blues put five past Birmingham on Sunday, but warned fans not to expect a repeat performance against Manchester United next week.
The Sky Blues have made thumping victories no once-in-a-blue-moon occurence this season, smashing 14 goals in their last three games, but the Manchester derby will be an entirely different proposition, insisted Mancini.
Three points, combined with Liverpool's failure to breach Fulham's defence and Tottenham's FA Cup commitments, have put City four points clear in the all-important fourth spot, albeit having played a game more than Spurs.
Should Harry Redknapp's side fail to beat Arsenal on Wednesday, Mancini's men could all but seal the final Champions League spot against their Manchester rivals, but it will be points not goals that matter next weekend.
"I think it is impossible to continue scoring three or four goals in the next game," said the Italian.
"We will try, but if we win 1-0 I will be happy.
"If we have 1-0 victories in the next five games that will be good for us. Of course we have respect for United but we want to win this game as it is an important one for us.
"First of all though, we have to recover from this game as we have used up a lot of energy."
Mancini was especially pleased with the attitude of his attackers, who sparked into life to blow Birmingham away before the break.
He added: "We changed the tempo after 20 minutes and scored three goals before half-time.
"Carlos and Emmanuel are two fantastic strikers and if they continue to play like this afternoon our chances of fourth place will be better."
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