Roberto Mancini's critics were
silenced on Saturday as
Manchester City put their
midweek European troubles
behind them with victory over
Swansea. Arsene Wenger also
had reason to smile after Mikel
Arteta struck a winner inside
the final ten minutes as
Arsenal plunged QPR into
further turmoil, on a day when
Jack Wilshere made his first
start after 17 months on the
sidelines.
- Premier League gallery
- Brewin: Jack gives Gunners a
lift
- Jolly: Mancini revives Man
City
- Tactics Board: Old school at
Villa
Mancini employed a back four
at the end of a week that
saw his tactics heavily
criticised following Manchester
City's loss to Ajax, but Joleon
Lescott - viewed by certain
observers as a scapegoat -
was benched for the visit of
Michael Laudrup's Swansea.
Carlos Tevez came in for Edin
Dzeko, and the Argentina
forward produced a wonder
goal in a 1-0 win.
A lacklustre atmosphere paved
the way for a forgettable first
half at the Etihad, punctured
only in the 36th minute when
Michu had a superbly taken
goal correctly disallowed for
offside. Moments later the
Spaniard broke the offside
trap again - this time legally -
but, with City's defence carved
wide open, Joe Hart
smothered his effort.
Michu continued to prove a
handful in the second period,
sending a poor header
towards Hart when he really
should have scored, but
Manchester City eventually
found a breakthrough on the
hour. Tevez, benched for the
defeat in Amsterdam, received
the ball 30 yards from goal
and sent a hammer of a right-
foot drive dipping beyond the
dive of Michel Vorm. The
Swansea 'keeper appeared to
injure his groin while diving and
had to be stretchered off.
City were not without their
own injury concerns as Micah
Richards also needed a
stretcher for a serious looking
knee injury, and the champions
had to negotiate 12 minutes
of injury time before
celebrating a victory that lifts
them within a point of Chelsea.
Arsene Wenger faced a thorny
AGM in midweek following back-
to-back defeats at the hands
of Norwich and Schalke.
However, Arsenal reacted to
their critics with a 1-0 victory
against QPR at Emirates
Stadium, courtesy of an 84th-
minute winner from Arteta.
Wenger had described a top-
four finish in the league as
being the equivalent of a
trophy, revealing he would
rather qualify for the
Champions League than win
the FA Cup. It was therefore
vital that Arsenal improved on
ninth place in the league, and
the sight of Wilshere for 67
minutes might just have the
club's fans believing they can
heighten their ambitions over
the coming months.
Wilshere's first real impact on
the game arrived in the 20th
minute when he played a one-
two on the edge of the area
before sending in a shot that
QPR 'keeper Julio Cesar spilled.
Other than it was pretty tame
stuff from the Gunners, who
completed a fifth straight half
of football without scoring.
There was concern for
Wilshere when Esteban
Granero's studs left him
clutching his ankle early in the
second half, and then QPR had
a goal rightly ruled out for
offside after Junior Hoilett ran
onto Granero's lofted pass.
Wilshere left the field in the
67th minute in what appeared
to be a pre-planned
substitution with little over 20
minutes remaining, having
completed every pass he
attempted. Lukas Podolski also
departed, but nothing seemed
to work as Santi Cazorla
missed a late sitter for the
North London side.
Stephane Mbia left QPR with
ten men for the last ten
minutes after lashing out at
Thomas Vermaelen, but Olivier
Giroud failed to capitalise
immediately when missing the
target from three yards.
Finally it was left to Arteta to
poke home from close range
to ease the tension around
the ground, although the
performance was far from
impressive as Jamie Mackie
wasted a fine chance to level
for Rangers at the death.
At the bottom end of the
table, Norwich defender
Michael Turner denied Aston
Villa manager Paul Lambert
victory against his former club
with a late equaliser in a 1-1
draw. The result leaves Villa in
17th, with one win from nine
games this season.
Christian Benteke justified
Lambert's decision to leave
Darren Bent out of his
starting line-up with Villa's
27th-minute opener -
caressed into the corner from
close to the penalty spot -
but Villa were forced to
defend desperately after left-
back Joe Bennett's sending-off
early in the second period for
two bookable offences.
Turner earned the Canaries a
deserved share of the spoils
when he headed home from a
short corner, and Villa have
now won only one of their last
19 league matches. It could
have been worse, too, but for
a trio of fine saves from
'keeper Brad Guzan.
Villa's point briefly lifted them
above Wigan but that lasted
less than three hours as the
Latics claimed their second win
of the campaign with a 2-1
triumph over West Ham at the
DW Stadium. Roberto
Martinez's Latics beat the
Hammers 4-1 in the Capital
One Cup earlier in the season,
and they inflicted another
defeat on Sam Allardyce's side
thanks to Ivan Ramis and
James McArthur.
Ramis netted in that
September win at Upton Park
and he took eight minutes to
repeat the feat on Saturday,
converting a set-piece for his
first league strike. Wigan then
needed Ali Al-Habsi to stay
alert in order to keep their
lead intact as West Ham threw
several dangerous corners
towards Andy Carroll inside
the penalty area.
McArthur doubled Wigan's
advantage two minutes into
the second period, converting
from close range as West
Ham's defence went walkabout.
Carroll then missed a glorious
chance on his right foot to
halve the deficit for the
visitors, who were deservedly
beaten despite James
Tompkins' late consolation.
Reading failed to move above
Villa and outside of the bottom
three after they drew 3-3
with Fulham at the Madejski
Stadium. The Royals are one of
only two sides - along with
Southampton - not to have
won a league game this
season, but they will take
some comfort from the fact
they fought back twice to
earn a point.
The Royals' opener was of the
highest quality as Mikele
Leigertwood handed the home
side the lead, striding on to
Jobi McAnuff's pass to sidefoot
into the top corner from 25
yards. However, Bryan Ruiz
produced an effort of equal
quality to level on the hour,
before Chris Baird's 77th-
minute effort threatened to
send the Cottagers fourth.
Garath McCleary levelled for
Reading only to see Dimitar
Berbatov score again for
Fulham, but the final say came
from Hal Robson-Kanu in injury
time.
In the day's other 3pm kick-
off, Stoke drew 0-0 with
Sunderland at the Britannia
Stadium. Simon Mignolet was
the busier of the two
goalkeepers but it was an
uninspiring display from both
sides.