Manchester: Edin Dzeko rescued Manchester City with a second-half winner in a shaky 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace on Saturday, lifting his team provisionally top of the English Premier League.
The division's most free-scoring attack struggled to break down an obdurate Palace defence until Jesus Navas cut the ball back for Dzeko to score from 12 yards for his 50th goal for City.
The goal kept up City's record of scoring in every home league match since November 2010 and maintained the team's 100 per cent record at Etihad Stadium this season.
City are two points clear of second-place Arsenal, which play Newcastle away on Sunday for the right to end 2013 on top of the standings.
City were indebted to goalkeeper Joe Hart, who produced a string of second-half saves to preserve the clean sheet.
Also, Hull scored six second-half goals to rout Fulham 6-0 on Saturday in a Premier League game highlighted by Tom Huddlestone celebrating his first goal since 2011 by cutting a piece of his hair off on the sideline.
Hull captain Robert Koren scored twice, while Ahmed El Mohamady, George Boyd and Matt Fryatt also netted as Fulham collapsed completely after the break.
Huddlestone made it 4-0 in the 67th minute - Hull's third goal in seven minutes - to end a goal drought stretching back 2 ½ years. The midfielder had pledged not to cut his hair until he scored again, and after netting he ran over to the sideline to let club physio Rob Price sheer off one of his long locks.
Fulham took a huge step backward after a mini-revival under new manager Rene Meulensteen and remains mired in the relegation zone.
And, Aston Villa ended a four-match losing streak thanks to an unimpressive 1-1 draw with visiting Swansea in the English Premier League on Saturday.
Villa, booed at home on Thursday after losing to Crystal Palace, began positively and were rewarded with their first goal in the first half in the league campaign thanks to Gabriel Agbonlahor's patient shot in the seventh minute.
But Swansea went after an equaliser and came through eight minutes from halftime when Roland Lamah headed in a cross at the far post. Swansea were in charge of the second half but couldn't convert chances and remained without a win for a fifth straight match.
Comments
0 comment