Gone in 43 seconds
28 March 2014 5:06 AM IST
United had been encouraged by wins over Olympiakos and West Ham United, but Dzeko needed only 43 seconds to put City ahead in the 150th league derby between the teams and the hosts never threatened to respond.
Dzeko claimed his second goal early in the second half before Yaya Toure added a late third to leave Manuel Pellegrini’s side three points behind leaders Chelsea, with two games in hand, ahead of Saturday’s trip to Arsenal.
The Bosnia international’s brace gave City a third consecutive victory at Old Trafford and prevented United from avenging their 4-1 humiliation at the Etihad Stadium in September.
Defeat left David Moyes’s United 12 points adrift of the top four and to compound matters, while they slumped to a sixth home defeat of the campaign, next week’s Champions League opponents Bayern Munich were beating Hertha Berlin to secure the Bundesliga title in record time.
The hosts were behind within a minute. After Rafael da Silva had thrown himself into a block to deny David Silva, City worked the ball wide to Samir Nasri on the left and when his shot came back off the near post, Dzeko tapped in.
Moyes introduced Shinji Kagawa in place of Cleverley at half-time, but it was City who took the upper hand.
United were given warnings -- Fernandinho heading over from an offside position, Jones producing a last-ditch tackle to deny Dzeko -- but they did not heed them and in the 56th minute it was 2-0.
With victory secure, City’s fans delved into their songbook, goading both Moyes and his predecessor, Alex Ferguson, as well as proclaiming their side “the pride of Manchester”.
There were opportunities for United to reduce the arrears in the latter stages, but Hart saved twice from England colleague Danny Welbeck and then boxed a deflected free-kick by Mata over the bar. It was left to Toure to apply the coup de grace and he scored.
Arsenal denied by Swansea, Everton thrash Newcastle Utd
LONDON: Arsenal’s spluttering title challenge suffered another major blow as Mathieu Flamini’s last-gasp own goal forced the Gunners to settle for a 2-2 draw against Swansea City.
Two goals in the space of 60 seconds midway through the second half from Lukas Podolski and then Olivier Giroud erased Wilfried Bony’s early opener at the Emirates Stadium. But Flamini deflected the ball into his own net from close range in the final moments to leave Arsenal six points behind leaders Chelsea with only seven games left.
Ross Barkley scored a remarkable goal to send Everton on their way to a 3-0 victory at Newcastle United that improved their prospects of qualifying for the Champions League next season.
Romelu Lukaku and Leon Osman added further goals in the second-half at St James’ Park on Tuesday as Everton increased the Premier League pressure on fourth-placed Arsenal.
Dzeko claimed his second goal early in the second half before Yaya Toure added a late third to leave Manuel Pellegrini’s side three points behind leaders Chelsea, with two games in hand, ahead of Saturday’s trip to Arsenal.
The Bosnia international’s brace gave City a third consecutive victory at Old Trafford and prevented United from avenging their 4-1 humiliation at the Etihad Stadium in September.
Defeat left David Moyes’s United 12 points adrift of the top four and to compound matters, while they slumped to a sixth home defeat of the campaign, next week’s Champions League opponents Bayern Munich were beating Hertha Berlin to secure the Bundesliga title in record time.
The hosts were behind within a minute. After Rafael da Silva had thrown himself into a block to deny David Silva, City worked the ball wide to Samir Nasri on the left and when his shot came back off the near post, Dzeko tapped in.
Moyes introduced Shinji Kagawa in place of Cleverley at half-time, but it was City who took the upper hand.
United were given warnings -- Fernandinho heading over from an offside position, Jones producing a last-ditch tackle to deny Dzeko -- but they did not heed them and in the 56th minute it was 2-0.
With victory secure, City’s fans delved into their songbook, goading both Moyes and his predecessor, Alex Ferguson, as well as proclaiming their side “the pride of Manchester”.
There were opportunities for United to reduce the arrears in the latter stages, but Hart saved twice from England colleague Danny Welbeck and then boxed a deflected free-kick by Mata over the bar. It was left to Toure to apply the coup de grace and he scored.
Arsenal denied by Swansea, Everton thrash Newcastle Utd
LONDON: Arsenal’s spluttering title challenge suffered another major blow as Mathieu Flamini’s last-gasp own goal forced the Gunners to settle for a 2-2 draw against Swansea City.
Two goals in the space of 60 seconds midway through the second half from Lukas Podolski and then Olivier Giroud erased Wilfried Bony’s early opener at the Emirates Stadium. But Flamini deflected the ball into his own net from close range in the final moments to leave Arsenal six points behind leaders Chelsea with only seven games left.
Ross Barkley scored a remarkable goal to send Everton on their way to a 3-0 victory at Newcastle United that improved their prospects of qualifying for the Champions League next season.
Romelu Lukaku and Leon Osman added further goals in the second-half at St James’ Park on Tuesday as Everton increased the Premier League pressure on fourth-placed Arsenal.
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