Manchester City snatched a dramatic late winner at The Hawthorns to narrow the gap at the top of the Premier League to four points, with rivals Manchester United also winning at home to Stoke as the pair responded to Chelsea’s lunchtime victory over Spurs. Edin Dzeko bagged a late brace to steal the points at The Hawthorns (Picture: EPA) James Milner saw red after just 23 minutes when he brought down Shane Long on the edge of the City area, with referee Mark Clattenburg adjudging him to have been the last man, despite the visitors’ protests.It was the most action of the first half, with neither goalkeeper having much to do. In fact, Joe Hart’s busiest moment of the half was attempting to calm Mario Balotelli whose temper was threatening to boil over, despite having already been booked.Despite a busier second period for West Brom goalkeeper Ben Foster, it was the hosts who took the lead when Long met Peter Odemwingie’s through ball to slot the ball home.It took a late substitution from Roberto Mancini to elicit an equaliser for the Premier League champions, as Edin Dzeko headed home with his first touch of the ball to draw the visitors level.West Brom substitute Romelu Lukaku could have restored his side’s advantage, but his effort was brilliantly saved by Hart and the Baggies paid the biggest price as Dzeko fired home in injury time to give 10-man City the points. Manchester United 4 – 2 Stoke City Manchester United responded to Chelsea’s earlier victory over Tottenham to narrow the gap at the top of the Premier League to four points with a 4-2 win over Stoke City. Wayne Rooney had a busy afternoon at Old Trafford (Picture: Reuters/Action Images) It was an eventful match for Wayne Rooney who opened the scoring with an own goal before netting twice at the right end to help Manchester United to victory over Stoke.Rooney first headed into his own net from a Charlie Adam free-kick after 11 minutes, before equalising at the right end shortly after. Sir Alex Ferguson’s side then took the lead through Robin van Persie who met Antonio Valencia’s cross with a superb finish.Rooney turned provider for fellow countryman Danny Welbeck within minutes of the restart to extend United’s lead, before Michael Kightly gave the visitors hope with a good solo effort. But Rooney reinstated the two-goal cushion with a simple back-post finish from a Van Persie corner. West Ham 4 – 1 Southampton West Ham continued their good start to the season with a resounding victory over fellow newly-promoted side Southampton, despite a goalless first-half. Two goals immediately after the break gave Southampton everything to do in the second period. Mark Noble gave the Hammers the lead from a free-kick, before Kevin Nolan doubled the advantage within minutes. Kevin Nolan got on the scoresheet in West Ham’s win over Southampton (Picture: Reuters/Action Images) Adam Lallana gave the Saints a glimmer of hope as he fired home a crisp finish to halve the deficit with 25 minutes remaining, but a foul by Jose Fonte on Andy Carroll allowed the Hammers to extend their lead from the penalty spot through Noble.And Modiba Maiga sealed the points in the closing stages with an excellent solo effort to beat debutant Artur Boruc in the Saints goal. Liverpool 1 – 0 Reading Liverpool claimed their first home win of the season with a narrow victory over strugglers Reading. Raheem Sterling opened his senior account for Brendan Rodgers’ side as he netted the only goal of the game, with the youngster latching on to a Luis Saurez pass before slotting coolly past Alex McCarthy in the visitor’s goal after 29 minutes. Raheem Sterling netted his first senior Liverpool goal (Picture: Reuters) The Reds’ had chances throughout the match to extend their lead but couldn’t covert and they nearly paid the price, with Jobi McAnuff and Garath McCleary both going close. Fulham 1 – 0 Aston Villa Fulham celebrated a late goal from Chris Baird (Picture: AP) Fulham climbed to eighth in the Premier League table with a hard-fought win over lowly Aston Villa at Craven Cottage. Despite Fulham’s free-scoring form, the teams went into the break at 0-0, largely thanks to some smart saves from Villa goalkeeper Brad Guzan.But Villa couldn’t keep the Cottagers at bay for the full 90 minutes, as Chris Baird gave the hosts the lead in the closing stages.Villa had a great chance to level immediately after the restart but Christian Benteke couldn’t convert and Martin Jol’s men held on for the win. Swansea 2 – 1 Wigan  Swansea put their recent poor form aside as they claimed victory over Wigan in south Wales. Wigan had the best of the opening exchanges at the Liberty Stadium but it remained goalless at half-time, before an influx of goals early in the second half.Pablo Hernandez gave Michael Laudrup’s side the lead after great work down the wing by Wayne Routledge and Michu doubled the hosts’ lead within two minutes. Michu scored the winning goal for Swansea against Wigan (Picture: AFP) An acrobatic effort from Wigan’s Emmerson Boyce pulled the visitors back into contention and Arouna Kone netted what he thought would be an equaliser, only to see the flag go up for offside. Pictures: West Brom 1 – 2 Manchester City Pictures: Manchester United 4 – 2 Stoke City Pictures: Tottenham 2 – 4 Chelsea

A news article on 2012-10-20 17:11:00 from: The Metro

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