Onwards and upwards is the aim now for Roberto Mancini

Roberto Mancini targets a second-place finish in the Premier League after Manchester City hammer Sunderland 5-0 to record their biggest win of the season.

Roberto Mancini, the Manchester City manager, gives instructions during yesterday's 5-0 win.

MANCHESTER // Roberto Mancini targeted a second-place finish in the Premier League after Manchester City hammered Sunderland 5-0 yesterday to record their biggest win of the season.

Adam Johnson, Carlos Tevez, David Silva, Patrick Vieira and Yaya Toure scored in a 5-0 victory that enabled City to leapfrog Chelsea and take third position after a Saturday when their immediate rivals slipped up.

And the City manager said: "It was an important weekend. I think it was important for us to win this game for many reasons: we went into third position, we are three points [from] Arsenal and Chelsea are behind, although it's true they have a game in hand. It was a very important game."

With City out of European competition, unlike Chelsea, who play Manchester United in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Wednesday, Mancini believes the less-demanding fixture list will see his side excel for the rest of the season.

"I think we can improve," he said. "We had a problem when we lost five or six players [to injury] and when we played every three days. We can continue to have this performance."

Khaldoon al Mubarak, City's chairman, went into the dressing room to praise the players after the game, and Mancini said: "He was happy."

City were scouted in person by Sir Alex Ferguson, the United manager, ahead of the FA Cup semi-final between the two Manchester clubs on April 16 at Wembley Stadium.

"Anything can happen but he knows Manchester City very well," Mancini said.

Ferguson saw a buoyant City side. The manner and margin of their win came as a welcome surprise to their own manager. Mancini said: "Before the game, I thought it was a difficult game because it is not easy to beat Sunderland. They are a strong team, they work very well and the manager [Steve Bruce] knows everything, but we started the game brightly.

"I think we played very well. We pressed from the first minute. I am surprised but I am happy. It is important we score five goals."

The first came from Johnson, the winger making his first start after almost two months out with an ankle injury and proving his capacity to add another dimension to City's attack.

Mancini said: "Adam Johnson is an important player for us. When we lost him, we had a problem because in his position we have only him."

Another to please Mancini was Mario Balotelli, who avoided controversy on his return to the starting line-up for the first time since his sending off against Dynamo Kiev in the Europa League exit.

Denied a goal by a brilliant injury-time save from Simon Mignolet, he nonetheless came in for fulsome praise from his manager.

"Mario was perfect today," Mancini said. "It was not important that he did not score. He worked for the team, he was strong, he did not talk to the referee or his opponents. "It is important that now he continues like this."

Sunderland have only taken one point from seven games and Bruce admitted relegation is a worry. His team are six points off the bottom three.

"We haven't got enough points," he said. "We have been on a horrific run. We have played the top six but we have found it very difficult with a half-fit squad. We've now got [to play] the bottom six, plus Bolton Wanderers in there, so it's up to us."

A club with a previously excellent defensive record have now conceded 18 goals in seven games and Titus Bramble, the centre-back who missed yesterday's game, could be ruled out for the rest of the season with a knee injury.

To compound their problems, they have failed to score in the last four matches, the longest drought experienced by any Premier League club this season.

"We've lost that cutting edge," Bruce said. "It is a bit of a worry. From start to finish, we were second best. We got what we deserved, nothing, and our backsides well and truly kicked.

"We pride ourselves on giving the big teams a game. Today we were nowhere near doing that. I could sit here and try and make excuses, but I won't. Two or three performed OK, but I've no excuses for the rest."