Manchester
City capitalised on a stumble from Chelsea to tighten their grip on
second place in the Premier League on Saturday, after Manchester United
took another stride towards the title. United's 1-0 win at Sunderland
had given them an 18-point lead but City cut their advantage back to 15
points ahead of the forthcoming Manchester derby by soundly defeating
Newcastle United 4-0 at the Etihad Stadium.
Carlos Tevez slid in to convert Gael Clichy's cross in the 41st minute and David Silva made it 2-0 before half-time when he collected Samir Nasri's pass and rifled a shot into the bottom-right corner. Making his first appearance in two months, City captain Vincent Kompany
added a third in the 56th minute with a flick from Gareth Barry's low
shot and an own goal from James Perch made Newcastle's misery complete.
City
now have a five-point cushion in second place after Chelsea saw their
hopes of UEFA Champions League qualification compromised in a 2-1 loss
at Southampton. Jay Rodriguez put the hosts ahead in the 23rd minute,
exchanging passes with Steven Davis and coolly steering the ball past
the advancing Petr Cech.
Chelsea captain
John Terry equalised in the 33rd minute, heading home from a corner, but
Rickie Lambert restored the hosts' lead two minutes later when he swept
home a superb free-kick from 25 yards.
Southampton have now beaten
City, Liverpool and Chelsea at home this year, and Arsenal and Tottenham
Hotspur were the chief beneficiaries of their latest success.
Tottenham Hotspur won 2-1 at Swansea City to leapfrog Chelsea into third place, although they have played a game more. Jan Vertonghen's classy finish put Spurs ahead in the 17th minute and the Belgian international then teed up Gareth Bale
to beat Michel Vorm with a vicious strike from outside the area. Michu
replied with a 71st-minute header, but the visitors held on.
Fifth-place
Arsenal closed to within just two points of Chelsea after a 4-1 win at
home to Reading, who sank to the foot of the table in new manager Nigel
Adkins' first game in charge. Goals from Gervinho, Santi Cazorla and Olivier Giroud saw Arsenal construct a 3-0 lead inside 67 minutes, with Mikel Arteta adding a fourth from the penalty spot after Hal Robson-Kanu had hit back for the visitors.
United move closer to title
Manchester United took a step closer to a 20th English league title by
grinding out a 1-0 win at Sunderland in the lunchtime game. With an FA
Cup quarter-final replay at Chelsea on Monday, United manager Alex
Ferguson rested Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney but saw his side score
the game's only goal in the 27th minute when Titus Bramble diverted
Robin van Persie's cross into his own goal. Defeat left Sunderland four
points above the relegation zone in 16th place, although they have
played at least a game more than the teams immediately below them.
Elsewhere today, an 81st-minute goal from Arouna Kone
gave Wigan Athletic a 1-0 win at home to Norwich City that hauled
Roberto Martinez's side out of the relegation zone at Aston Villa's
expense. Meanwhile, Andy Carroll
scored twice, with Gary O'Neil also on target, as West Ham United eased
their own relegation fears by beating West Bromwich Albion 3-1.
In the final Premier League match of the evening, forward Kevin Mirallas
kept Everton's bid for UEFA Champions League football alive with the
only goal to increase Stoke City's worries as their slide down the table
continued. The Belgian international struck from an electrifyingly
quick counter-attack in the first half which left defenders trailing in
his wake. Fortunately for the hosts this was not a day when they needed
the cushion of the extra goal as Stoke surprisingly hardly tested Howard
and his recently-repaired broken back.
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