City still in it as Swansea thump Bradford

MANCHESTER: Second-half goals by Yaya Toure and Carlos Tevez earned Manchester City a 2-0 win over Chelsea yesterday that gave their fading hopes of retaining the Premier League crown a boost.

Chelsea had missed the chance to go ahead early in the second half at the Etihad Stadium when Frank Lampard had a penalty well saved by keeper Joe Hart, while City had endured long spells of frustration as their many chances went to waste.

Toure’s sweetly struck shot into the bottom right broke the deadlock in the 63rd minute, while substitute Tevez made sure of the three points with a right-footed missile five minutes from time.

The result puts secondplaced City 12 points behind leaders Manchester United, who have 68 points from 27 games, while Chelsea stay third with 49. “I think we deserved to win because we played well, maybe we could have scored more goals,” City manager Roberto Mancini told a news conference.

In the day’s only other Premier League game, Newcastle United beat relegation rivals Southampton 4-2 at home to move six points clear of danger.

After United had surged further ahead the previous day with a 2-0 victory over Queens Park Rangers, there was no doubt on the blue side of Manchester what would need to be done to keep the title race interesting for a little longer.

Chelsea found themselves with a golden chance to take charge in the second half when Demba Ba was brought down by Hart and the referee pointed to the spot. Lampard stepped up, eyeing what would have been his 200th Chelsea goal, but his wellstruck 52nd-minute penalty was kept out by the outstretched Hart, who had dived to his right.

“Frank Lampard is a great penalty taker and a bit of a hero of mine. We’ve spoken a lot about penalties, but he’s strong-minded, he’s not going to be put off by an idiot like me,” Hart told Sky Sports.

“It was a case of trying to go the right way and get a strong hand on it.”

Meanwhile, Swansea City ended Bradford City’s League Cup fairytale with a record-breaking 5-0 victory in the final at Wembley Stadium yesterday to crown the club’s centenary year with a first major trophy.

Bradford had accounted for Arsenal, Aston Villa and Wigan Athletic en route to the final, but they fell well short in their bid to become the first team from England’s fourth division to lift one of the game's most coveted prizes.

Goals from Nathan Dyer and Michu gave Swansea a 2-0 halftime lead, with Dyer doubling his tally early in the second half before Jonathan de Guzman added a fourth with a penalty after Bradford goalkeeper Matt Duke saw red.

De Guzman made it five in injury time as Swansea broke the victory margin record set by Manchester United against Wigan Athletic in the 2006 final. – Reuters, AFP