Manchester City kept their title hopes alive thanks to a 3-0 win against 10-man West Bromwich Albion but Arsenal remain hot on their heels after a 2-1 victory against Newcastle United in the Premier League yesterday.

Much-maligned after their Champions League exit in Barcelona on Wednesday and a league defeat by Burnley last week, City were helped by a bizarre refereeing decision in the second minute in which West Brom’s Gareth McAuley was sent off instead of Craig Dawson in a case of mistaken identity.

Wilfried Bony, who had been hauled down by Dawson, later scored his first goal for City for whom Fernando and David Silva were also on target to give Manuel Pellegrini victory in his 100th game in charge of the club.

Second-placed City have 61 points from 30 matches, three behind leaders Chelsea, who have two games in hand over their title rivals and play Hull City this afternoon.

“I think it was a very good performance,” Pellegrini said.

“Today we were very concentrated defensively to not allow them to score and after that we created a lot of chances. I think that the only thing we must do is try and win the next game.”

Arsenal, knocked out of the Champions League by Monaco on Tuesday, remain one point behind Manchester City, however, after victory against Newcastle at St James’ Park means the Gunners have now won their last six league matches.

Olivier Giroud struck twice in four minutes in the first half but they spent much of the second half on the backfoot after Moussa Sissoko pulled a goal back for Newcastle.

“We started well, on the front foot, we put the pace we wanted to into the game,” Giroud told reporters.

“The problem in the second half was we didn’t play, I don’t know why.

“It was a tough game but it is a really important win. Even though we are disappointed with the Champions League exit, we want to fight on until the end of the season.”

Harry Kane (left) celebrates after scoring one of his goals against Leicester City, at White Hart Lane, yesterday.Harry Kane (left) celebrates after scoring one of his goals against Leicester City, at White Hart Lane, yesterday.

Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane celebrated his first senior England call up with a hat-trick as Spurs beat bottom side Leicester City 4-3 in a thrilling match at White Hart Lane.

Kane scored twice in the opening 13 minutes to give Spurs a two-goal advantage but goals from Jamie Vardy and Wes Morgan drew the visitors level.

Leicester striker David Nugent conceded a penalty that Kane converted before Jeff Schlupp scored an own goal.

Nugent set up a nervy finish with a late consolation.

Sixth-placed Southampton stay above Spurs on goal difference after their 2-0 win at St Mary’s against struggling Burnley who remain in the bottom three places.

Crystal Palace came from a goal down to beat Stoke City 2-1 at the Britannia Stadium, while Aston Villa’s recent resurgence came to end with a 1-0 home defeat against Swansea City.

Advocaat beaten

West Ham striker Diafra Sakho scored a late winner to inflict defeat on new Sunderland head coach Dick Advocaat in his first match in charge and finally bring some cheer back to Upton Park.

The Irons were in contention for the European places earlier in the season but have slipped down the Premier League with a terrible run of form in 2015.

It looked set to be another frustrating evening for manager Sam Allardyce, who is out of contract in the summer, before Sakho slotted home with just two minutes left to give West Ham a first league win since January 18 and leave Dutchman Advocaat in no doubt of the hard work ahead to secure Sunderland’s top-flight status.

Results and standings

Premier League

Aston Villa 0
Swansea 1
Gomis 87;

HT: 0-0. Att: 33,000.

Man. City 3
Bony 27; Fernando 40; Silva 70;
West Brom 0

HT: 2-0. Att: 45,018.
Red card: McAuley (WB) 2.

Newcastle 1
Sissoko 48;
Arsenal 2
Giroud 24, 28;

HT: 0-2. Att: 50,544.

Southampton 2
Long 37; Shackell 57og;
Burnley 0

HT: 1-0. Att: 30,864.

Stoke City 1
Diouf 14;
Crystal Palace 2
Murray 41 pen; Zaha 45;

HT: 1-2. Att: 27,532.

Tottenham 4
Kane 6, 13, 64p; Schlupp 85 og;
Leicester City 3
Vardy 38; Morgan 50; Nugent 90;

HT: 2-1. Att: 35,950.

West Ham 1
Sakho 88;
Sunderland 0

HT: 0-0. Att: 34,914.

  P W D L F A Pts
Chelsea 28 19 7 2 58 23 64
Man. City 30 18 7 5 62 28 61
Arsenal 30 18 6 6 58 31 60
Man. United 29 16 8 5 50 26 56
Liverpool 29 16 6 7 43 30 54
S’thampton 30 16 5 9 42 21 53
Tottenham 30 16 5 9 50 45 53
Swansea 30 12 7 11 34 38 43
West Ham 30 11 9 10 40 37 42
Stoke City 30 12 6 12 34 37 42
C. Palace 30 9 9 12 36 41 36
Newcastle 30 9 8 13 33 48 35
West Brom 30 8 9 13 27 39 33
Everton 29 7 10 12 36 41 31
Hull City 29 6 10 13 26 37 28
Aston Villa 30 7 7 16 19 39 28
Sunderland 30 4 14 12 23 44 26
Burnley 30 5 10 15 26 49 25
QPR 29 6 4 19 30 52 22
Leicester  29 4 7 18 27 48 19

Playing today
Hull City vs Chelsea - 17.00
Liverpool vs Man. United - 14.30
QPR vs Everton - 17.00

Top scorers
19 goals: Kane (Tottenham).
18 goals: Costa (Chelsea).
17 goals: Aguero (Man. City).
15 goals: Austin (QPR).
13 goals: Sanchez (Arsenal), Giroud (Arsenal).

Next fixtures

April 4: 13.45 Arsenal vs Liverpool. 16.00 Everton vs Southampton; Lei-cester vs West Ham; Man. United vs Aston Villa; Swansea vs Hull; West Brom vs QPR. 18.30 Chelsea vs Stoke.

April 5: 14.30 Burnley vs Tottenham. 17.00 Sunderland vs Newcastle.

Monday, April 6: 21.00 C. Palace vs Manchester City.

The Championship
Blackburn 0 - Brighton 1
Blackpool 1 - Leeds United 1
Bournemouth 3 - M’boro 0
Brentford 2 - Millwall 2
Cardiff City 2 - Birmingham 0
Charlton 3 - Reading 2
Huddersfield 0 - Fulham 2
Norwich City 3 - Nottm Forest 1
Rotherham 2 - Sheffield Wed. 3
Watford 0 - Ipswich Town 1
Wigan 1 - Bolton 1
Wolves 2 - Derby County 0

Standings: Bournemouth 73; Watford, M’Boro 72; Norwich 70; Derby, Ipswich 67; Brentford 66; Wolves 65; Nottm Forest 57; Blackburn, Charlton 54; Sheffield Wed. 53; Leeds 52; Car-diff 51; Birmingham 47; Brighton, Bolton 45; Huddersfield, Reading 44; Fulham 43; Rotherham 40; Wigan 35; Millwall 33; Blackpool 23.

League One
Barnsley 1 - Preston NE 1
Bradford City 2 - Fleetwood 2
Coventry City 1 - Doncaster 3
Crawley 1 - Leyton Orient 0
Crewe 0 - Oldham 1
Gillingham 2 - Colchester 2
MK Dons 4 - Notts County 1
Peterborough 1 - Chesterfield 0
Rochdale 3 - Scunthorpe 1
Sheffield Utd 1 - Port Vale 0

Standings: Bristol City 83; Preston 73; Swindon Town 70; MK Dons 69; Sheffield Utd 58; Peterborough 56; Barnsley 55; Rochdale, Doncaster Rovers 53; Fleetwood 52; Chesterfield, Bradford City 51; Oldham 49; Gillingham, Port Vale 48; Walsall 46; Scunthorpe, Coventry, Crawley 43; Notts County, Crewe Alexandra 42; Leyton Orient 39; Colchester 38; Yeovil 33.

League Two
Accrington 2 - York City 2
Wimbledon 1 - Portsmouth 0
Bury 2 - Northampton 1
Carlisle 1 - Morecambe 1
Cheltenham 1 - Exeter City 2
Hartlepool 1 - Mansfield 0
Plymouth 0 - Newport 0
Shrewsbury 2 - Oxford United 0
Southend 0 - Cambridge 0
Stevenage 0 - Dagenham 1
Tranmere 1 - Burton 4

Standings: Burton Albion 76; Shrewsbury 71; Wycombe 68; Bury 67; Southend 63; Luton, Newport 58; Plymouth, Stevenage 57; Exeter 54; Northampton 53; Wimbledon 52; Portsmouth, Morecambe, Dagenham 49; Accrington 46; Mansfield 45; Cambridge 44; Oxford 43; Carlisle 41; York City 38; Tranmere, Cheltenham 37; Hartlepool United 36.

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