Two second half goals from Yaya Touré kept Manchester City are on the verge of winning their first league title since 1968.
The title race will go down to the last game of the season after Manchester United beat Swansea City 2-0, but it would be a monumental collapse if City did not win the title now.
In a tense match at St. James Park, Newcastle frustrated and harried City for 70 minutes before Yaya Toure broke the deadlock with a superb shot from the edge of the box.
Fernando Torres’ important goal in the Champions League against Barcelona apparently has lifted the Spaniard confidence as he showed commanding performance against Queens Park Rangers by scoring three goals to help his side trashed Mark Hughes’ team 6-1.
The massive result gave the necessarily morale boost in chasing for the Champions League spot against the likes of Newcastle Unitedm Tottenham Hotspurs and maybe even Arsenal.
Very interesting decision the Premier League has taken ahead of Sunday’s Premier League fixture between Chelsea and Queens Park Rangers. The Premier League has decided that there will be no pre-match hand shake due to the legal situation involving John Terry and Anton Ferdinand.
A statement on the its website read:
“The Premier League position on the pre-match handshake convention remains consistent. In all normal circumstances it must be observed,”
“However, after discussions with both Chelsea and Queens Park Rangers about the potential and specific legal context in relation to John Terry and Anton Ferdinand the decision has been taken to suspend the handshake convention for Sunday’s match.”
Newcastle United get themselves back in the Champions League zone after successfully beating Stoke City 3-0, leaving their rival Tottenham Hotspurs behind, as Harry Redknapp’s boys picked up another defeat on the weekend, this time against Queens Park Rangers.
French midfielder, Yohan Cabaye, put on a classy performance on the day as he bagged a brace and also assisted Pappiss Demba Cisse for the other goal, putting Newcastle on a potential surprise Champions League inclusion thins summer.
(Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)
Huge upset in the Premier League title race tonight as Manchester United lost 1-0 to Wigan, and Manchester City took advantage of the slip by their quiet neighbors to beat West Brom and move within five points of the league leader.
Wigan started the day in the relegation zone and not many of their fans gave them much of a chance against United, especially since they had never taken as much as a point off United in the Premier League. However, Roberto Martínez’s side totally outplayed United on the right and got the result they deserved when men Shaun Maloney scored off a short corner in the 50th minute. The win moved Wigan two points clear of the bottom three.
Manchester City FC’s perfect home Premier League record has ended as they needed two late goals to draw 3-3 with Sunderland while Wolves looked a certainty for the drop after losing at home to fellow strugglers Bolton.
City fell behind to a Sebastian Larsson strike on 31 minutes, but Mario Balotelli levelled from the spot but Nicklas Bentner headed Sunderland back in front before the break in a pulsating first-half in Manchester. Larsson then made it 3-1 on the counterattack early in the second half, and it looked like City’s title chances were going to take a serious hit, but two goals in the last five minutes from Balotelli and Aleksandar Kolarov meant that City escaped with a point. Man United Fwho play on Monday can go five points clear at the top with a win.
While a lot of attention was focused on battle for fourth place at Stamford Bridge today, there were some really big wins for teams involved at the other end of the season.
The biggest win of the day had to Wigan Athletic beating Liverpool 2-1 at Anfield. In four days Kenny Dalglish’s side have now lost to teams in the bottom three of the table.
Wigan went ahead whenShaun Maloney calmly converted a penalty on the half-hour mark following a high challenge by Martin Skrtel on Victor Moses.
If Manchester City do win the Premier League this season, they will look back at tonight’s 2-1 comeback win over Chelsea as the moment when Chelsea saved their season.
Trailing 1-0 to a Gary Cahill shot that deflected off Yaya Touré and past Joe Hart, and not playing well, Roberto Mancini went to the bench and brought Carlos Tevez. for the first time in six months.
The move seemed to inspire Ctiy and they got an equalizer when Michael Essien blocked a shot with his hand and Sergio Agüero scored from the penalty spot.
It was a day to remember in the Premier League for Didier Drogba and Nikica Jelavić as Drogba’s 100th goal in the Premier League helped Chelsea beat Stoke 1-0, while Jelavic’s goal gave Everton the win over Spurs.
Chelsea struggled all day against 10-man Stoke, who played a man short for 65 minutes after icardo Fuller was given a straight red for a stamp on Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic.
It took Chelsea until the 68th minute to break down Stoke and it was Drogba who was the scorer, running on to Juan Mata’s pass, where he rounded Stoke City FC goalkeeper Asmir Begović for the only goal of the game.
Manchester City maintained their 100% home record in the Premier League this season with a comfortable 3-0 victory against struggling Blackburn Rovers.
Mario Balotelli made a sustained period of pressure tell for Roberto Mancini’s team, who are five points clear of Manchester United ahead of their trip to Norwich on Sunday, when he turned in Aleksandar Kolarov’s cross after 30 minutes. Sergio Agüero put the game beyond Rover’s reach when he scored in the 52nd minute and Edin Džeko headed in the third, two minutes after coming on.
