The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Rampant City go top
MANCHESTER CITY replaced Arsenal at the top of the Barclays Premier League table last night after emphatically ending Tottenham’s unbeaten league run under Tim Sherwood with a 5-1 win at White Hart Lane.
Sergio Aguero was on target for City’s opening goal before he limped off before half-time, and Spurs were reduced to 10 men early in the second period when Danny Rose was sent off for tripping Edin Dzeko.
Yaya Toure converted the resulting penalty, with Dzeko making it 3-0 before Etienne Capoue pulled one back for Tottenham.
However, Stevan Jovetic and Vincent Kompany both added further goals to put City clear and claim a resounding win that leaves them a point clear of Arsenal and three ahead of Chelsea, who stumbled last night.
Kompany refused to talk about the title after the game.
The Blues have now scored five on eight occasions this season and their overall tally is up to 115, but Kompany does not think the title is a given.
“I don’t even want to talk about that at the moment,” he told BT Sport.
“I’m so happy with the win and the way we played, not just the result. We are enjoying it and it’s a great time to be part of things.
“There is still no silverware, a lot of games are to be played. We’ll stay calm and prepare for the next game.”
Aguero’s injury was the one black spot, with City due to host Chelsea on Monday and Kompany said: “It’s bad news of course, we will have to see. We don’t know how bad it is but hopefully he’ll be back very soon.
“The good news is Jovetic stepped up and was the player we know he can be.”
Chelsea were frustrated by West Ham in a goalless draw which saw Jose Mourinho’s men fall three points off the pace.
Mourinho had played down his side’s title chances this week and the Blues saw a seven-game winning run ended by a West Ham side battling relegation and, after leaking goals in recent weeks, defensively resolute.
Chelsea had won five successive league games and were anticipated to have a comfortable evening against a West Ham side with five points from the previous nine games and deep in the relegation mire.
Yet it was anything but easy as the Blues, who won 3-0 at Upton Park in November, found West Ham to be defensively resilient and organised as they failed to find a way through with keeper Adrian in top form.
Mourinho accused West Ham of playing “football from the 19th Century” after the goalless draw.
The self-proclaimed ‘Special One’ said: “It’s very difficult to play a football match where only one team wants to play.
“A football match is about two teams playing and this match was only one team playing and another team not playing.
“I told Big Sam and I repeat my words: they need points and, because they need points, to come here and play the way they did, is it acceptable? Maybe, yes.
“I cannot be too critical, because if I was in his position I don’t know if I would do the same. Maybe.
“At the same time I told also this is not Premier League, this is not the best league in the world, this is football from the 19th Century.”
Christian Benteke’s second-half penalty settled a remarkable West Midlands derby as Aston Villa came from 2-0 down to edge a seven-goal thriller againstWest Brom 4-3.
A Chris Brunt stunner and a Fabian Delph own goal inside the first nine minutes got the Baggies off to a flyer atVilla Park but the hosts replied quickly through Andreas Weimann, Leandro Bacuna and Delph.
Youssouf Mulumbu made it 3-3 at halftime but Benteke secured only Villa’s third Barclays Premier League home win of the season from the spot after the striker himself was fouled.
Adam Johnson continued his mission to single-handedly fire Sunderland to safety as 10-man Stoke were dragged back into the mix.
The £10 million England midfielder’s sixth goal in as many games secured a 1-0 win — the Black Cats’ first in the league in six attempts at the Stadium of Light — and in the process eased them out of the relegation zone for the first time since August.
Stoke finished the game with 10 men after midfielder Steven Nzonzi was sent off for a second bookable offence.