Silva shines in snow to maintain Man City chase

Yaya Toure put Man City 2-0 up from the penalty spot

After the leaders had extended their advantage over City to six points with a 2-0 win over West Ham United in the early kick-off, Manuel Pellegrini’s side took advantage of a poor opening period from the hosts to score three unanswered goals.

The visitors were handed an early gift courtesy of Ben Foster, as the West Brom goalkeeper dropped a looping Jesus Navas cross after eight minutes. Midfielder Fernando took full advantage to register his first goal for the club. The former Man City defender Joleon Lescott then fouled David Silva inside the area allowing Yaya Toure to double the visitors’ advantage from the penalty spot

Silva extended the lead further with a cool strike before half-time and although an improved defensive effort from West Brom and the snow prevented City from another goal after the break, and the home side got on the scoresheet themselves through Brown Ideye’s goal after a scramble late on, City comfortably held on for a ninth consecutive win in all competitions.

Wayne Rooney continued his fine record versus Newcastle United as Manchester United made it eight matches unbeaten with a 3-1 win. Man Utd cruised to a comfortable victory despite the absence of winger Angel Di Maria, who was left out after picking up an injury in their most recent training session. Rooney was the architect of the triumph that solidified their position in third, with a double taking the 29-year-old’s league tally against Newcastle to 12.

He opened the scoring in the 23rd minute via a close-range finish at the end of a wonderful United move, before adding a second in very similar fashion nine minutes before half-time. The points were made safe eight minutes into the second half as Rooney set up Robin van Persie to head home a third, although Newcastle did net an 87th-minute consolation thanks to Papiss Cisse’s penalty.

Southampton returned to the top four with a comfortable 3-1 win at struggling Crystal Palace. Sadio Mane marked his return to the Southampton starting XI with a superb performance at Selhurst Park as he opened the scoring with an excellent early goal, before turning provider for Ryan Bertrand to double the visitors’ lead straight after half-time.

Defender Toby Alderweireld opened his Barclays Premier League account with a towering header shortly after to seal the points for Ronald Koeman’s men, despite a late Scott Dann consolation for the hosts. Southampton can take confidence into Sunday’s visit of table-topping Chelsea with confidence, while Palace have won just one of their last 12 Barclays Premier League fixtures and have slipped into the relegation zone.

Raheem Sterling netted the winner as Liverpool claimed a hard-fought 1-0 victory at Burnley to end a three-match winless sequence in the top flight. Burnley dominated the first half at Turf Moor and struck a post through Danny Ings, but were unable to make their superiority count as Liverpool reached the interval unscathed. Sterling’s crucial strike came shortly after the hour as he rounded Tom Heaton and slotted home, despite the best efforts of two defenders attempting to scramble back.

Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, who had been dropped “indefinitely” by manager Brendan Rodgers ahead of the match with Manchester United a fortnight ago, was called into the fray early in the first half after Brad Jones suffered an injury. Mignolet was able to keep the home side at bay as Burnley’s four-match unbeaten run at home came to an end.

Tottenham Hotspur closed to within two points of the top four with a 2-1 victory over Leicester City. Christian Eriksen’s 70th-minute free-kick secured the points for Mauricio Pochettino’s side, after they had soaked up pressure from their hosts. Harry Kane had given Spurs a superb start with his third league goal in as many matches in the first minute, but the visitors were unable to pull further clear prior to the interval.

Leicester levelled three minutes after the break through Leonardo Ulloa. Chances continued to come for Nigel Pearson’s men thereafter, but they were punished for when Eriksen caught Ben Hamer off-guard from a set-piece. Spurs have won three league matches in succession, while Leicester remain rooted to the foot of the table despite an improved display.

Swansea City beat Aston Villa 1-0 to claim their first Boxing Day victory in the Barclays Premier League. The Welsh side were dominant in the first half at the Liberty Stadium and opened the scoring with a well-struck Gylfi Sigurdsson free-kick after 13 minutes. They continued to look the more likely to score after going ahead, although the introduction of Andreas Weimann at the break gave Villa more of an attacking edge.

Despite an improved second-half display from Villa, which included stoppage-time chances for Christian Benteke and Gabriel Agbonlahor, Garry Monk’s men were able to hold firm for the three points that kept their pursuit of the top four.

Bojan Krkic’s first-half penalty was enough to seal a 1-0 triumph for Stoke City over Everton in a full-blooded match at Goodison Park. The former Barcelona forward gave Mark Hughes’ side the lead 38 minutes into a stop-start first half after he had been fouled by James McCarthy and although Everton created a host of gilt-edged opportunities to level before the break they could not convert one.

Stoke were content to play on the counter in the second period, with Roberto Martinez’s side unable to make the dominance count and their unbeaten run of five home matches in the competition came to an end in the rain.

Hull City climbed out of the relegation zone with a 3-1 win at Sunderland on Friday, their first success in 11 Barclays Premier League matches. Steve Bruce’s men travelled to his former club having not won since early October and scored just twice in their last nine outings, and Adam Johnson, who scored a last-gasp winner as Sunderland beat Newcastle United last time out, capitalised on a defensive error to give the hosts the lead after just 29 seconds.

But Gaston Ramirez equalised in the 32nd minute with his maiden goal for Hull and James Chester headed home shortly after half-time. Substitute Nikica Jelavic then added a third in stoppage time to wrap up a valuable win and lift Hull up to 17th.

source: premierleague.com