Manchester City 4-1 Sunderland
MANCHESTER CITY RECOVERED from their disappointing defeat at Premier League title rivals Arsenal with a ruthless 4-1 victory over a hapless Sunderland, but there were concerns as captain Vincent Kompany limped off on his comeback from injury.
Manuel Pellegrini’s side were beaten 2-1 at Emirates Stadium on Monday in a defeat that left them six points adrift of surprise leaders Leicester City ahead of Saturday’s matches.
However, City turned on the style at the Etihad Stadium with the recalled Raheem Sterling and Wilfried Bony part of an excellent attacking unit alongside Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva.
The only concern for Pellegrini will be the sight of Kompany limping off with a seeming recurrence of the calf injury that sidelined him since early November, less than 10 minutes after coming on as a second-half substitute.
In a clinical first-half showing, Sterling opened the scoring with a header and Yaya Toure quickly doubled the lead in superb fashion from long range.
Bony had noted his disappointment at being dropped in favour of Sergio Aguero for the Arsenal loss, but he responded by heading home his fourth goal in his last six appearances.
De Bruyne deservedly got on the scoresheet with his 10th goal in all competitions this season and, after Fabio Borini scored a consolation for Sunderland, Bony blazed a penalty over the crossbar.
It mattered little and City are now just three points adrift of Leicester, while Sunderland remain mired in relegation trouble in 19th.
Aston Villa 1-1 West Ham
Jordan Ayew’s impressive form in front of goal continued, but his efforts were only enough to earn Aston Villa a 1-1 draw at home to West Ham.
The Ghana international converted a spot kick after Angelo Ogbonna brought down Rudy Gestede inside the area, although Aaron Cresswell had previously opened the scoring seconds before the half-time whistle.
Ayew has five goals in his last nine league games, and rescued a point with a stunning effort at Newcastle United last weekend, although draws are doing little to aid Villa’s plight.
Remi Garde remains without a win since replacing Tim Sherwood, who oversaw Villa’s only league win of the season at AFC Bournemouth on the opening day.
After an impressive start to the campaign, that featured wins at Arsenal and Manchester City, West Ham have not won in eight games, drawing their last five.
Tottenham 3-0 Norwich City
Harry Kane scored twice in the first half as Tottenham boosted their hopes of a top-four finish in the Premier League with a 3-0 win over Norwich City.
Kane broke the deadlock from the penalty spot after 26 minutes before doubling both his and Tottenham’s tally just before the interval with a low drive from a tight angle.
Substitute Tom Carroll added a third in the 80th minute, getting his first Premier League goal with a well-struck shot from outside the area.
The emphatic result at White Hart Lane means Mauricio Pochettino’s side sit two points clear of Crystal Palace in fourth place.
Norwich, meanwhile, find themselves perched precariously above the relegation zone after Swansea City’s victory at home to West Brom.
If Newcastle manage to avoid defeat at home to Everton later on Saturday, Alex Neil’s side will drop into the bottom three.
Swansea 1-0 West Brom
South Korea international midfielder Ki Sung-Yueng scored after just nine minutes as Swansea defeated West Brom 1-0 on Saturday, handing the struggling Welsh side a first win in eight matches.
Managerless Swansea had gone seven home games without a win before Saturday, failing to find the net in five of them and started the day third from bottom in the Premier League.
But Ki stopped the rot when he found the net from close range just moments after Angel Rangel had hit the post with a right footed shot after being teed-up by Wayne Routledge.
The goal was the 26-year-old Ki’s first Premier League goal of the season.
Bournemouth 0-0 Crystal Palace
AFC Bournemouth were denied a fourth consecutive victory as they were held to a 0-0 draw by Crystal Palace at the Vitality Stadium.
Two of the Premier League’s form teams met for the first time in the top flight, but neither could find a breakthrough in a blustery Boxing Day meeting on the south coast. Some of the best chances fell to Bournemouth’s former Palace striker Glenn Murray, but he failed to impress as both sides felt the absence of key players who might have made the difference.
Without the likes of Connor Wickham in attack, Palace laboured in front of goal and Bournemouth became the first team to keep a clean sheet at home against Alan Pardew’s men since Leicester City two months earlier.
The draw took Bournemouth to 20 Premier League points before the half-way point in the season, and Eddie Howe must feel confident his men can avoid a relegation battle this season.
Palace, meanwhile, sit fifth, two points shy of the Champions League qualification berths.
Massive blow for City. Kompany possibly their most important and influential player.
They still have a squad more than capable of winning the league. If toure would bother to give 100% in every match, they’d be going a lot better. Kolarov, Sagna, Zabaleta, Otamendi, Mangala, Demichelis, Clichy , jeez if they can’t make a proper defence outta that I give up.
Calf injuries are awful…very difficult to finally get rid of them.
When Kompany limped down that tunnel I think city’s title chances followed. The leading centre half in English football when fit
Spot on mervyn. They won’t win d league without him. He’s more important to them than aguero.