Ten-man Manchester City went three points clear at the top of the Premier League last night after goals from Sergio Aguero, Yaya Toure and James Milner set up a 3-0 victory over Liverpool.
Liverpool – missing striker Luis Suarez after the club confirmed they would not appeal his eight-match ban for racially abusing Patrice Evra – were always struggling after City struck twice in the first half at Eastlands.
City, who had suffered a shock 1-0 defeat at Sunderland on Monday, opened the scoring on 10 minutes when Argentine star Aguero unleashed a speculative dipping effort towards the Liverpool goal.
Liverpool keeper Pepe Reina appeared to have the shot covered but somehow allowed the ball to skid under him to give City a 1-0 lead.
City doubled their tally on 33 minutes, when Toure met a David Silva corner with a powerful glancing header which flew past Reina.
Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish attempted to revive his side’s fortunes in the second half after introducing Steven Gerrard and Craig Bellamy from the bench, but it was to no avail as Man. City maintained their grip on the contest.
They had Gareth Barry sent off for a second bookable offence on 73 minutes but the setback was only temporary as City made it 3-0 with Milner’s well-taken penalty after Martin Skrtel brought down Toure.
The victory saw Roberto Man-cini’s City go three points clear of second-placed Manchester United, who play Newcastle at St James Park today.
In other matches yesterday, third-placed Tottenham downed West Bromwich Albion 1-0 while Sunderland’s Martin O’Neill-inspired revolution saw the Black Cats register yet another victory with a 4-1 win at Wigan.
West Brom managed to frustrate Spurs for long periods at White Hart Lane before the deadlock was finally broken on 63 minutes by Jermain Defoe.
Rafael van der Vaart released Gareth Bale on the left flank and the Welsh winger’s cross was met by Defoe who evaded the attention of several Baggies defenders to score.
Spurs remain six points behind City but that gap will be cut to just three if the north Londoners win their game in hand at home to Everton next week.
So far, manager Harry Redknapp has been coy about Spurs’ chances of mounting a serious title challenge, preferring instead to concentrate on a top-four place.
The only negative for Redknapp yesterday was a pair of injuries to Brazilian midfielder Sandro and French defender William Gallas and he will hope neither is sidelined for long.
At the DW Stadium, Craig Gardner’s superb free-kick set Sunderland on the path to their fourth win in six games since O’Neill took over.
James McClean added a second goal on 55 minutes as Wigan pulled a goal back through Hugo Rodallega to give the Latics some hope.
However, Sunderland’s third from Stephane Sessegnon on 73 minutes snuffed out any chance of a fightback from the home side before David Vaughan added a fourth.
Summaries
Man. City 3
Aguero 10; Yaya Toure 33; Milner 75 pen;
Liverpool 0
HT: 2-0. Att: 47,131.
Red card: Barry (MC) 73.
Tottenham 1
Defoe 63;
West Brom 0
HT: 0-0. Att: 36,062.
Wigan 1
Rodallega 62;
Sunderland 4
Gardner 45; McClean 55; Sessegnon 73; Vaughan 80;
HT: 0-1. Att: 15,871.
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Man. City | 20 | 15 | 3 | 2 | 56 | 16 | 48 |
| Man. United | 19 | 14 | 3 | 2 | 49 | 17 | 45 |
| Tottenham | 19 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 36 | 20 | 42 |
| Chelsea | 20 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 39 | 25 | 37 |
| Arsenal | 20 | 11 | 3 | 6 | 36 | 28 | 36 |
| Liverpool | 20 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 24 | 18 | 34 |
| Newcastle | 19 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 26 | 25 | 30 |
| Stoke City | 20 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 22 | 31 | 29 |
| Norwich City | 20 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 30 | 35 | 25 |
| Sunderland | 20 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 27 | 23 | 24 |
| Everton | 18 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 19 | 20 | 24 |
| Swansea | 20 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 20 | 23 | 23 |
| Aston Villa | 20 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 22 | 26 | 23 |
| Fulham | 20 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 22 | 26 | 23 |
| West Brom | 20 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 19 | 28 | 22 |
| Wolves | 20 | 4 | 5 | 11 | 22 | 36 | 17 |
| QPR | 20 | 4 | 5 | 11 | 19 | 35 | 17 |
| Wigan Athletic | 20 | 3 | 6 | 11 | 18 | 41 | 15 |
| Blackburn | 20 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 29 | 43 | 14 |
| Bolton | 19 | 4 | 1 | 14 | 23 | 42 | 13 |
Playing today
Everton vs Bolton - 21.00
Newcastle vs Man. United - 21.00