Carlos Tevez thanks Manchester City team-mates for support on return from exile "I am very happy that I played well," Tévez said, "but the most important thing is that I want to thank my colleagues for all the support they have given me since I arrived. It wasn't easy coming back to training and to play, but they have given me a lot of support. As Tévez wheeled away after completing his hat-trick, he ran towards the away section and swung an imaginary golf club, his team-mates beaming with mirth. Clearly the imploding Mario Balotelli has supplanted Tévez as the black sheep of the dressing room. On this evidence, Carlos is one of the boys again. "It was an important goal," Tévez said. It was important for the people. For the club and for the fans, for my colleagues, for Roberto, for me. We all went through some difficult times and it's very important. That's why I celebrated the way I did; because I have my feet on the floor and I am happy for everyone. It deserved a celebration like that. Some of Tévez's link-play with Agüero was so delicate and intuitive that it was a genuine privilege to see. "We are used to playing together," Tévez said. He knows how I play, and I know he does too. That's important when we play both strikers. We seem to understand each other. "It just is a joy to watch," said Manchester City midfielder Nigel de Jong, who had the best seat in the house. I mean, if you play behind them and see how they play together, how they move together, it's a joy to watch for every football player. And so the questions begin. Under Tévez's steam, would City still have foundered as they did over the last two months? Mancini was rightly lauded for consigning Tévez to the doghouse, but did he cripple his club's title challenge in the process? Mancini was careful to separate the two issues. It's not true. Clearly Carlos is a top striker, like the others that are here. The reason [for the dip in form] is that we lost four or five key players in a key moment. Would we have won the title if Tévez had played? We can't know this. Tellingly, Mancini still did not rule out the possibility of selling him in the summer. "I don't know this," he said. At the end of the season, we will see what will happen with all the players. To the title race, then, although if you believe Mancini the fate of the title has already been decided. With the gap reduced to just two points before Manchester United's 4-0 win against Aston Villa on Sunday, was Mancini simply messing with us? "No, he is not mucking you around," de Jong said. You have to be a realist, but on the other hand nothing is impossible. It's not in our own hands any more. We have a game against them at home so we can make the gap smaller. Certainly, though, there was the sense that there is a little more optimism in the City dressing room than Mancini is letting on. Tévez again: "Of course we can still win the title. We just need to continue to play the way we are, and we will arrive at the top. As the visiting fans sang at Carrow Road: "We're Manchester City, we'll fight to the end." With Tévez at the head of the pack, the chase is on.