Champions Manchester City galvanised their pursuit of Premier League leaders Chelsea yesterday with an emphatic 3-0 victory over a Southampton side who have surprisingly come between the leading title protagonists.

With table-topping Chelsea held to a 0-0 draw against Sunderland on Saturday, victory for City at fortress St Mary’s took them above Southampton into second place with 27 points from 13 matches, six behind Jose Mourinho’s team.

Tottenham Hotspur came from a goal down to beat Everton 2-1 with goals from Christian Eriksen and Roberto Soldado moving Spurs up to seventh with 20 points.

After a less than convincing start to the defence of their title, City’s display against Southampton saw them back to their free-flowing best as goals from Yaya Toure, Frank Lampard and Gael Clichy condemned Ronald Koeman’s side to a first home defeat of the season.

“We beat a very good team,” City manager Manuel Pellegrini said. “They were second in the table and deserved that position.

“It was important to have a clean sheet again, they had just one chance in the 90 minutes and that is important for the trust in our team.

“It was close in the first 45 minutes and we continued working as a team in defence and attack until we scored.”

City screamed for a penalty for a foul on Sergio Aguero in a goalless first half when Jose Fonte’s hefty challenge wiped out the Argentine in the box. Incredibly Aguero was booked for diving.

But Toure, so often City’s go-to man on their way to the title last season, put his side in front after 51 minutes when his low shot from the edge of the area flicked off Saints defender Toby Alderweireld and past Fraser Forster.

When French defender Eliaquim Mangala received a second yellow for a foul on Shane Long it seemed Southampton had a lifeline but that was snatched away when Lampard ghosted through into space and buried his shot low into the corner.

Clichy hammered the final nail into Southampton’s coffin when he turned the ball home in the 88th minute.

Spurs fightback

Everton’s Kevin Mirallas produced a stunning strike from 20 metres to open the scoring at White Hart Lane in yesterday’s clash between the two Europa League representatives.

Tottenham equalised six minutes later when Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard palmed Harry Kane’s shot into the path of Eriksen, who kept his composure to score.

In first half stoppage time, Soldado scored his first league goal since March when he raced on to Aaron Lennon’s astute pass and powered a shot past Howard.

Everton applied pressure late on but Spurs held on to avoid their third successive defeat at home.

“We need to keep this mentality and try to show the same in the next game. Always, you need the time to set your philosophy but today we are very pleased with the three points,” Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino said.

Premier League

Southampton 0
Man. City 3
Toure 51; Lampard 80; Clichy 88;

HT: 0-0. Att: 30,919.
Red card: Mangala (MC) 74.

Tottenham 2
Eriksen 21; Soldado 45;
Everton 1
Mirallas 15;

HT: 2-1. Att: 35,901.

Next fixtures

Tomorrow: 20.45 Burnley vs Newcastle United; Leicester City vs Liverpool; Manchester United vs Stoke City; Swansea vs QPR. 21.00 Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa; West Bromwich vs West Ham United.
Wednesday: 20.45 Arsenal vs Southampton; Chelsea vs Tottenham; Everton vs Hull City; Sunderland vs Manchester City.