With City having the "once in a lifetime" opportunity to win the title by defeating their city rivals on home turf, United raised their game to produce a stunning comeback to win 3-2 after being 2-0 down.
However, speaking to 'Sky Sports', Mourinho insists that whilst the victory was satisfying, it has nothing on a league title.
"Did the performance give me special pleasure because it was against our city rivals when they were ready to celebrate their title? [Yes] I cannot deny that," he admitted.
Despite that pleasure, when asked if the win was his most enjoyable as United boss, he replied: "No, I would prefer to lose this match and win the title, honestly.
"But we are working really hard to try and finish second. Three points in a difficult match gives up better conditions between now and the end of the season to finish second, which is the position we want.
"The boys deserve the award, the performance was amazing, especially in the second half when we were losing 2-0 against the future champions, a team that didn't lose any Premier League match at their stadium.
"Our fans in the stadium, the way they supported the team, especially in the first half when the team was losing, this award is for the amazing fans and the boys."
Mourinho also took the opportunity to insist that his side deserve more credit, saying that pundits are too harsh on his side.
"When things go wrong, people don't think twice and have a go at us," he explained. "When things go well there is always a 'but' - it's very rare that people look at the positives and be straight with our team.
"But in the end there are things that are undeniable, you can try to hide but you cannot deny it.
"One of them is that we beat every team in the Premier League this season, we won against the 19 direct opponents.
"We won against every one of the top six, we have a great number of points in between the top six.
"There are many of positive things and this match is an example of the good things we did during the season."