Edin Dzeko's brace and efforts from Stevan Jovetic and Yaya Toure saw City thrash Aston Villa 4-0 on Wednesday, bringing up their 100th league goal of the season and seeing them move top of the table.
Sitting two points clear of Liverpool and with a goal difference 13 goals superior, a draw at home to West Ham on the final day is all City need to win the league for the fourth time.
Despite their position, Zabaleta, 29, said City still had work to do, but hailed his team's spirit, work ethic and belief this season.
"It was very difficult. If you don’t score early, sometimes it can be hard but the key was we worked hard, we found space and we stayed patient," he said.
"It was a very solid performance, nothing is won yet but it was very important to win tonight.
"It was a massive step forward, but there is still one game to play. West Ham have nothing to play for but they have some very good players and can score goals.
"The spirit is great here, the players work very hard, we kept the belief when we were in third place and now we are here, we have a great chance and hopefully on Sunday we can celebrate the title."
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