Despite labelling his Manchester City soft, Roberto Mancini felt that Sunderland were lucky to win 1-0 at the Stadium of Light on Boxing Day.
Adam Johnson netted the only goal of the contest against his former club as City fell seven points behind league leaders Manchester United and the Black Cats moved up to 13th.
It was the third 1-0 victory at home against City in a row for Sunderland but Mancini believes it was a lucky triumph for his opposition.
"I think they [Sunderland] are really lucky against us at home because you can't create every time 15, 20 chances like this year, last year, two years ago and in the end, you lose the game," he said.
"They are very lucky against us. They defend well, but we need to be stronger when we have a chance to score."
