Yaya Toure and Sergio Aguero struck late as Premier League champions Manchester City climbed within two points of table-topping Chelsea thanks to a patient 2-0 victory at a resolute Aston Villa yesterday.

Toure curled home a beautifully-placed low shot in the 82nd minute before Aguero thundered in a second six minutes later after the visitors spurned a host of chances in what had been a dominant yet wasteful display.

City climbed to second with 14 points, one point ahead of third-placed Southampton and two behind Chelsea who host Arsenal in a London derby today.

Adam Lallana and Jordan Henderson scored as Liverpool registered their first league win since August by grinding out a hard-fought 2-1 victory over West Bromwich Albion at Anfield.

Papiss Cisse struck twice to ease the growing pressure on under-fire Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew in a 2-2 draw against Swansea at the Liberty Stadium.

Sunderland beat Stoke City 3-1 for their first league win of the season, Hull City beat Crystal Palace 2-0 to condemn Neil Warnock to his first league defeat since returning to the south London club and Ross Wallace scored deep into stoppage time as Burnley grabbed a 2-2 draw against Leicester City.

With creative maestro David Silva dictating City’s attacks, chances were in regular supply, though their Bosnia forward Edin Dzeko was guilty of wasting three clear opportunities in the opening period.

The second half began at a frantic paste with Aguero hitting the post before Kieran Richardson was let down by a poor touch as he raced clear at the opposite end.

As a goalless draw beckoned Toure, criticised in recent months for a series of anonymous performances, was granted space on the edge of the area and dispatched a precise shot.

Aguero doubled the lead minutes later with a powerful shot from the edge of the area as City recorded their first league clean sheet since the opening day of the campaign.

“It is a fantastic win. Full credit to Villa for the way they played but in the second half we did the job,” Toure told Sky Sports.

“The most important thing for me is to try my best.

“I need to work harder and continue going and the most important thing for me and the team is to repeat what we did last year.”

Jordan Henderson... winner.Jordan Henderson... winner.

Low-key display

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers dropped Mario Balotelli after being critical of the Italy striker’s shortage of goals following a lacklustre 1-0 Champions League loss at FC Basel in midweek.

A reinvigorated West Brom were rarely troubled before England international Lallana gave the hosts the lead on the stroke of halftime.

The 26-year-old exchanged passes with England team-mate Henderson before dispatching a sharp finish low into the bottom corner for his first Liverpool goal.

West Brom started the second half brightly and restored parity after 56 minutes through Saido Berahino’s fifth league goal of the season.

The 21-year-old coolly converted his penalty after he was felled by Dejan Lovren, despite the infringement appearing to occur outside the area.

The visitors continued to take the game to Liverpool but fell behind again after Henderson collected Raheem Sterling’s pass and finished smartly.

“It was vital (we won). We needed to find a way to win today against a side that is really high on confidence,” Rodgers told Sky Sports.

“An excellent result on the back of a disappointing European result.

“Their penalty was outside the box but the players showed their character and resilience to keep going and find a winner. It was an outstanding win for us.”

Cisse was Newcastle’s hero as he twice equalised after goals from Swansea’s Wilfried Bony and Wayne Routledge to earn a point, though they are yet to win in the league this season.

“To go behind twice shows great character from the team. I’m pleased with a point,” Pardew said after the game.

“We are where we are and there is a lot of pressure on us and it’s difficult to play.

“Hopefully, we can get ourselves a couple of wins and we can get some confidence back and show we are a better side than we are at the moment.”

• Norwich were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Rotherham but stayed on top of the Championship table as Watford and Derby also failed to win at home.

Paul Green put the Millers ahead from the penalty just before half-time at Carrow Road, but the Canaries avoided a second straight defeat as Cameron Jerome equalised after 77 minutes.

With Nottingham Forest not in action against Ipswich until today, Watford could have climbed to the summit by beating Brighton, but Lewis Dunk levelled for Albion after Daniel Tozser had put the Hornets in front for another 1-1 stalemate.

Results and standings

Premier League

Aston Villa 0
Man. City 2
Toure 82; Aguero 88;

HT: 0-0. Att: 32,964.

Hull 2
Diame 60; Jelavic 89;
C. Palace 0

HT: 0-0. Att: 24,281.

Leicester 2
Schlupp 33; Mahrez 40;
Burnley 2
Kightly 39; Wallace 90;

HT: 2-1. Att: 31,448.

Liverpool 2
Lallana 45; Henderson 61;
West Brom 1
Berahino 56 pen.;

HT: 1-0. Att: 44,708.

Sunderland 3
Wickham 4; Fletcher 23, 79;
Stoke 1
Adam 15;

HT: 2-1. Att: 42,713.

Swansea 2
Bony 17; Routledge 50;
Newcastle 2
Cisse 43, 75;

HT: 1-1. Att: 20,622.

  P W D L F A Pts
Chelsea 6 5 1 0 19 7 16
Man. City 7 4 2 1 14 7 14
Southampton 6 4 1 1 11 4 13
Swansea 7 3 2 2 10 8 11
Arsenal 6 2 4 0 11 7 10
Liverpool 7 3 1 3 10 10 10
Aston Villa 7 3 1 3 4 9 10
Hull City 7 2 3 2 11 11 9
Leicester City 7 2 3 2 11 12 9
Man. United 6 2 2 2 11 9 8
Sunderland 7 1 5 1 8 7 8
Tottenham 6 2 2 2 8 7 8
West Brom 7 2 2 3 8 9 8
C. Palace 7 2 2 3 10 12 8
Stoke City 7 2 2 3 6 8 8
West Ham 6 2 1 3 10 10 7
Everton 6 1 3 2 12 14 6
Newcastle 7 0 4 3 7 14 4
Burnley 7 0 4 3 3 10 4
QPR 6 1 1 4 4 13 4

Playing today
Chelsea vs Arsenal - 15.05
Man. United vs Everton - 13.00
Tottenham vs Southampton - 15.05
West Ham vs QPR - 17.15

Top scorers
8 goals: Costa (Chelsea).
5 goals: Ulloa (Leicester), Berahino (West Brom).
5 goals: Aguero (Man. City).
4 goals: Jelavic (Hull), Pelle (Southampton), Chadli (Tottenham), Cisse (Newcastle).

Next fixtures

Saturday, October 18: 13.45 Man. City vs Tottenham. 16.00 Arsenal vs Hull; Burnley vs West Ham; C. Palace vs Chelsea; Everton vs Aston Villa; Newcastle vs Leicester; Southampton vs Sunderland.

Sunday, October 19: 14.30 QPR vs Liverpool. 17.00 Stoke vs Swansea.

Monday, October 20: 21.00 West Brom vs Manchester United.

The Championship
Blackburn 0 - Huddersfield 0
Bolton 1 - Bournemouth 2
Brentford 3 - Reading 1
Charlton 1 - Birmingham 1
Derby 0 - Millwall 0
Leeds 1 - Sheff. Wed. 1
M’Boro 2 - Fulham 0
Norwich 1 - Rotherham 1
Watford 1 - Brighton 1
Wolves 2 - Wigan 2

Playing today
Nottm Forest vs Ipswich - 16.00

Standings:  Norwich, Watford 21; Nottingham Forest, Derby County, Middlesbrough 20; Charlton Athletic, Wolves 19; Ipswich 18; Sheffield Wed., Brentford 17; Bournemouth, Blackburn Rovers, Reading, Leeds 15; Cardiff City 13; Millwall, Rotherham, Huddersfield 12; Brighton, Birmingham 11; Wigan 10; Fulham 7; Blackpool 6; Bolton 5.

League One
Bradford 2 - Crewe 0
Chesterfield 3 - Sheff. United 2
Coventry 2 - Crawley 2
Fleetwood 1 - Port Vale 0
Leyton Orient 1 - Swindon 2
Notts County 1 - Gillingham 0
Peterborough 2 - Oldham 2
Preston 4 - Colchester 2
Rochdale 0 - Barnsley 1
Scunthorpe 1 - Doncaster 2
Walsall 1 - Bristol City 1
Yeovil 0 - MK Dons 2

Standings: Bristol City 25; Swindon Town 21; Peterborough 20; MK Dons, Preston 19; Chesterfield, Bradford 18; Notts County 17; Rochdale, Fleetwood, Sheffield Utd 16; Oldham 15; Doncaster, Crawley 14; Coventry 13; Walsall, Barnsley, Gillingham, Yeovil 12; Leyton Orient 10; Colchester, Port Vale 9; Scunthorpe 7; Crewe 4.

League Two
Bury 2 - Tranmere 0
Cheltenham 1 - Wimbledon 1
Hartlepool 0 - Carlisle3
Mansfield 0 - Accrington 1
Oxford 1 - Newport 0
Plymouth 1 - Shrewsbury 0
Southend 0 - Morecambe 1
Stevenage 1 - Luton 2
Wycombe 1 - Northampton 1
York 0 - Portsmouth 0

Standings: Bury 23; Wycombe, Burton Albion 22; Southend 20; Morecambe 19; Northampton, Luton 18; Plymouth, Portsmouth, Cheltenham, Accrington 16; Shrewsbury, Wimbledon, Exeter, Mansfield 15; Cambridge, Stevenage 14; Newport 13; Dagenham 11; Oxford, York 10; Tranmere, Carlisle 9; Hartlepool 8.

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