Chelsea tightened their grip on
the Premier League top spot
by strolling past Norwich, while
Manchester City kept up their
pursuit with a romp against
Sunderland. Elsewhere, the
heat was turned up on Mark
Hughes as QPR lost again, while
high-flying Everton twice came
from a goal down to draw with
Wigan.
A Chelsea team featuring
headline-grabbing duo John
Terry and Ashley Cole beat
Norwich City 4-1 at Stamford
Bridge.
Fernando Torres spurned a
golden early chance, hesitating
when one-on-one with the
goalkeeper and allowing Leon
Barnett to come back and
make a tackle, and he was
punished when Grant Holt
silenced the home crowd,
blasting past Petr Cech after
Wes Hoolahan's cross was
nodded into his path.
The Canaries had their lead
snatched away almost
immediately, however, as
Torres atoned for his early
error by scoring from
Branislav Ivanovic's pass. Frank
Lampard completed the
turnaround, underlining his
claim for a regular starting
place by drilling in from the
edge of the box.
Eden Hazard took the game
further out of Norwich's reach,
profiting from Juan Mata's fine
approach work to curl into the
corner. Canaries goalkeeper
John Ruddy made a string of
fine saves after the break -
yet he was powerless to stop
Branislav Ivanovic's volley
thundering in to complete the
scoring.
Manchester City bounced back
from their draw with Borussia
Dortmund with a 3-0 win over
Sunderland.
City boss Roberto Mancini
made seven changes to the
side that were fortunate to
claim a 1-1 draw with
Dortmund in the Champions
League. It was partly down to
injury and partly down to the
short amount of time between
games.
It did not affect City in any
way as they powered ahead
inside five minutes. Carlos
Tevez was restored to the
starting line-up and he had a
hand in the opener. The
Argentine's feet were too
quick for Carlos Cuellar who
hacked Tevez down on the
edge of the box.
It proved a costly challenge as
Aleksandar Kolarov stepped up
and rifled a left-footed free-
kick in off the post.
Chances came and went for
City, with Simon Mignolet
making a couple of fine saves
and Danny Rose heading off
the line to deny Micah
Richards.
But just as frustration looked
like setting in, Kolarov was
played in down the left and he
delivered a pin-point cross for
Sergio Aguero to score his
first goal at the Etihad since
the strike that won the
Premier League in May.
And the seal was put on the
performance in the dying
stages as a free kick from
James Milner flashed off Craig
Gardner and over Mignolet.
Swansea fought back from
two goals behind to earn a
2-2 draw at home to Reading.
The Royals edged in front
against the run of play, Pavel
Pogrebnyak netting following
Michel Vorm's howler as the
ball went straight through his
hands. A second was added by
Noel Hunt, whose crisp volley
was too sweetly struck to
keep out.
Swansea pressed and pressed
in the second period, however,
and forced a breakthrough
thanks to a diving header
from Michu. That pushed
Reading firmly against the
ropes, and they hit the canvas
when Wayne Routledge found
an equaliser.
QPR remain bottom of the
table and winless following a
3-2 reverse at West Brom. The
Rs' defensive troubles were
again in evidence as West
Brom took an early lead,
Shane Long whipping in a cross
that James Morrison
converted.
A shocking clearance from
Anton Ferdinand allowed Zoltan
Gera to pile more misery on
the Hoops - but a superb
finish from Adel Taarabt,
scoring for the second time in
as many games, halved the
deficit.
The visitors seemed to be
heading for an equaliser until
Youssouf Mulumbu killed them
off with a neat finish and
though a fine finish from
Esteban Granero set up a
nervy finish, it came too late
for Mark Hughes' side.
Leighton Baines' late penalty
rescued a point for Everton in
the 2-2 draw at Wigan
Athletic.
Arouna Kone nudged the hosts
in front in controversial
circumstances, looking a yard
offside as he buried Shaun
Maloney's centre. But Everton
hit back almost instantly, with
Nikica Jelavic finding the
target after Steven Pienaar's
mishit shot arrowed towards
him.
Wigan were not thrown off
their stride though, and
Franco di Santo restored their
lead by smashing into the roof
of the net from Kone's
cutback. There was a late
sting in the tail for the Latics,
however, as Baines sent his
spot-kick soaring into the roof
of the net.
Topic: BLues cruise, City swagger begin (Read 1334 times)
