Toure's man-of-the-match show helps City beat Chelsea 2-0 to keep alive their slender hopes of retaining EPL title
Manchester City galvanised their grip on second place in the Premier League and trimmed Manchester United’s lead back to 12 points with a 2-0 victory at home to nearest rivals Chelsea yesterday.u00a0
Yaya Toure celebrates after scoring against Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium yesterday. PICS/Getty Images
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After Chelsea’s Frank Lampard had seen a penalty saved by England colleague Joe Hart, City prevailed through a pair of fine second-half goals from man-of-the-match Yaya Toure and substitute Carlos Tevez. Although City’s chances of retaining their league title remain slender, they now have a seven-point advantage over Chelsea, who could slip to fourth if Tottenham Hotspur beat West Ham United today.
Both City manager Roberto Mancini and his Chelsea counterpart Rafael Benitez flooded their sides with midfielders at the Etihad Stadium, while Benitez opted to leave John Terry and Fernando Torres on the bench. City deployed Sergio Aguero as a lone striker and although he had to plough a lone furrow, it was the hosts who dominated the first half.
Visiting goalkeeper Petr Cech had to tip a header from Matija Nastasic over the bar, while Gary Cahill did well to block a goal-bound volley from Pablo Zabaleta.u00a0City handed a rare start to Jack Rodwell and the midfielder threatened twice shortly before half-time, extending Cech with first a 25-yard drive and then a header from the resulting corner.
City’s Joe Hart saves a Frank Lampard penalty
Aguero then dinked a shot onto the roof of the net before City’s enterprise finally told in the 63rd minute.u00a0Toure collected a pass from David Silva and deftly evaded the attentions of four visiting defenders before shaping a shot around Cech that nestled in the bottom-right corner.u00a0Tevez settled the encounter in style in the 85th minute, collecting the ball 22 yards from goal and arrowing a shot into the top-left corner.
Newcastle win
In the day’s other game, Newcastle edged relegation rivals Southampton 4-2 in a topsy-turvy game at St James’ Park that took Alan Pardew’s side six points clear of the bottom three.u00a0In honour of their growing French contingent, Newcastle had dubbed the day ‘French Day’, handing out berets to their supporters and playing the French national anthem prior to kick-off.
However, it was a Frenchman who broke the deadlock, as midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin gave Southampton a third-minute lead.u00a0Newcastle’s reaction was swift and in the 32nd minute they equalised thanks to two French players of their own — Yoan Gouffran, who forced a save from Artur Boruc and Moussa Sissoko, who sped in to touch it over the line.
The hosts went ahead in the 42nd minute with a stunning Papiss Cisse strike from 25 yards.u00a0However, Southampton equalised five minutes into the second half when Lambert swept home a low cross from Adam Lallana.u00a0Newcastle hit back once again and took the lead for the second time in the game when Yohan Cabaye converted a 67th-minute penalty. The contest was as good as over in the 79th minute, when an own goal by Jos Hooiveld put Newcastle 4-2 ahead.
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