Manchester City thump Tottenham, Chelsea held by West Ham in EPL

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Edin Dzeko

Sergio Aguero scored his 50th Premier League goal on just 15 minutes to set City on their way during an impressive first half, which was dampened somewhat when the forward limped off.

But the visitors put the game to bed with a blistering second half.

Danny Rose was sent off after he was adjudged to have fouled Edin Dzeko and Yaya Toure slotted in the spot kick six minutes after the restart.

Dzeko then got in on the act himself from close range and though Etienne Capoue pulled on back for Tottenham, Stevan Jovetic's first league goal for City and Vincent Kompany's late effort confirmed their eighth successive league win and condemned Tottenham to their first Premier League defeat under Tim Sherwood.

City's early dominance was rewarded four minutes later, though, when Silva slipped in a perfect ball for Aguero and he delicately stroked his shot past the onrushing Hugo Lloris from 10 yards.

Michael Dawson thought he had brought Tottenham level after 36 minutes when he prodded in a fantastic Christian Eriksen free-kick, but he was ruled marginally offside.

There was controversy a few moments after half-time when Dzeko was played in on goal, only to be thwarted by Rose, and even though the Tottenham man appeared to win the ball, referee Andre Marriner awarded a penalty and sent the defender off.

Toure dispatched the penalty into the corner for his 15th goal of the season.

City ensured an 18th win from their last 20 games after 53 minutes when Silva's rasping drive was brilliantly tipped onto the post by Lloris, only for the ball to eventually fall to Dzeko, who slotted home with ease.

Tottenham did pull one back six minutes later when City failed to deal with a corner and Capoue latched onto the loose ball to hammer home from six yards.

But a perfect night was rounded off late on when Jovetic found space in the area to thump beyond Lloris via a deflection, and Kompany's late effort rounded off a five-star performance.


Danny Rose of Tottenham Hotspur fouls Edin Dzeko of Manchester City in the area. Photo by Jamie McDonald/Getty Images

At Stamford Bridge, West Ham held out for a 0-0 draw as Chelsea had their Premier League title ambitions checked on a frustrating night.

Adrian produced a stunning early save, touching Oscar's shot against the crossbar, but the busy night the visiting goalkeeper might have expected never truly materialised.

Chelsea dominated the play and Demba Ba was also denied by the woodwork late on, but the home side were persistently thwarted by a West Ham defence as tenacious as it was deep-lying.

Frustratingly for Jose Mourinho, his men waited until stoppage time to genuinely rally – Ba prodding against the post and Frank Lampard drawing a stunning save either side of Samuel Eto'o slamming home amid confusion after a free-kick was awarded in the West Ham box.


Chelsea's defender Gary Cahill grapples with West Ham United's striker Andy Carroll. Photo by GLYN KIRK/AFP/Getty Images

Aston Villa notched their 300th Premier League win by battling from two goals down to beat Midlands rivals West Brom 4-3 at Villa Park.

A thunderous strike from Christ Brunt and a Fabian Delph own-goal inside the first 10 minutes seemed to have put West Brom well on their way to three points on Wednesday.

Villa were reading from a different script, however, and Andreas Weimann's lobbed finish in the 12th minute inspired the hosts, with Leandro Bacuna equalising before the half-hour mark.

Against all odds, Paul Lambert's side looked set to take a lead into the break as Delph scored in the correct goal this time, but Youssouf Mulumbu levelled the scores again with a composed finish in the 43rd minute.

West Brom coach Pepe Mel admitted in the build-up to the game that he tried to sign Christian Benteke in his days at Real Betis and it was the Belgium star who netted the winner when he converted a second-half penalty to move Villa into 10th.


Aston Villa's forward Christian Benteke vies with West Bromwich Albion's midfielder Claudio Yacob. Photo by ANDREW YATES/AFP/Getty Images

Sunderland moved out of the Premier League relegation zone with a 1-0 triumph over 10-man Stoke City at the Stadium of Light.

Adam Johnson's first-half tap-in inflicted a fifth straight away defeat in all competitions on Mark Hughes' men, who had Steven N'Zonzi sent off in the second half for a second bookable offence.

It could have been even better for Sunderland, who spurned several chances to extend their lead, with Jozy Altidore missing the best opportunity, but one goal proved to be enough.

The result sees the hosts move to 17th, while Stoke are just three points above the drop zone in 16th.


Ondrej Celustka of Sunderland is tackled by Erik Pieters of Stoke City. Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images

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