Manchester City rediscovered its attacking game in the English
Premier League on Saturday, beating Fulham 3-0 to maintain its
perfect home record and keep Manchester United at arm’s length in
the title race.
City’s 12th straight league victory at Etihad Stadium left the
leaders three points ahead of United, which visits fourth-place
Chelsea on Sunday.
The most resounding victory came at Emirates Stadium, where
Arsenal rebounded from its miserable recent run in the league by
hammering Blackburn 7-1. Robin van Persie had a hat trick, raising
his season goal total to 22.
Thierry Henry, on loan from New York Red Bulls, also scored for
Arsene Wenger’s team, which climbed above Newcastle and Liverpool
into fifth place. It is within two points of Chelsea, which holds
the final Champions League qualification spot.
Sergio Aguero converted a penalty kick for his 15th league goal
of the season and also set up Edin Dzeko as City battled through
heavy snow that afflicted most English games.
Fulham defender Chris Baird scored an own goal to compound the
woes for Fulham, which was the first team to take points off City
this season.
Elsewhere, Sunderland’s impressive run under new manager Martin
O’Neill continued with a 1-0 win at Stoke, while Wolverhampton
Wanderers rallied for a 2-1 win over Queens Park Rangers to climb
out of the relegation zone.
Bolton dropped into the bottom three with a 2-0 loss at Norwich.
Swansea came from behind to defeat West Bromwich Albion 2-1,
Last-place Wigan drew 1-1 at home to Everton after a mistake by
visiting U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard.
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BARCELONA, Spain (AP) _ Espanyol substitute Juan Albin scored in
stoppage time as his team rallied twice to draw 3-3 at Athletic
Bilbao in the Spanish league.
Bilbao appeared set to win after Fernando Llorente and Javi
Martinez scored headers in the second half, but Albin ran onto Kalu
Uche’s pass and fired a shot from a tight angle off the crossbar
and into the net.
Espanyol had already recovered from Oscar de Marcos’ opener for
the hosts with goals by Ndri Romaric and Vladimir Weiss on each
side of halftime.
Mallorca edged Real Betis 1-0, while Racing Santander drew 1-1
at Levante.
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BERLIN (AP) _ Schalke missed the chance to join Borussia
Dortmund at the top of the Bundesliga with a 1-1 draw at home to
Mainz.
Mohamed Zidan gave Mainz the lead in the 15th minute before
Borussia Moenchengladbach failed to take advantage and remains a
point behind Schalke in fourth after being held to a 0-0 draw at
Wolfsburg.
Martin Harnik scored an 89th-minute equalizer for Stuttgart to
end its four-game losing steak in a 2-2 draw at Leverkusen. Both
sides had a player sent off.
Augsburg drew 2-2 at Hoffenheim, and Hannover won 1-0 at Hertha
Berlin, which also had a player sent off.
Defending champion Dortmund put the pressure on its rivals
Friday with a 2-0 win at Nuremberg to stretch its unbeaten run to
14 games.
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PARIS (AP) _ Renaud Cohade and Gael Danic scored as Valenciennes
beat Dijon 2-1 in the French league.
Cohade capitalized on a counterattack in the third minute to
beat Dijon goalkeeper Baptiste Reynet. Danic doubled the lead with
a close-range effort in the 43rd. Gregory Thil scored a consolation
goal for Dijon with a header in stoppage time.
Rennes was held to a a scoreless draw at Nancy.
The match between Saint-Etienne and Lorient was suspended after
10 minutes of play because an icy field. A makeup date was not
announced.
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GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) _ Celtic eased into the quarterfinals of
the Scottish Cup, beating Inverness 2-0 in one of four all-Premier
League matches in the fifth round.
Georgios Samaras opened the scoring for the holders in the 33rd
minute by smashing a shot past Inverness goalkeeper Jonny Tuffey.
Scott Brown assured the outcome in the 67th, converting a penalty
kick for his third goal in three games.
Rangers, a point behind Celtic at the top of the Premier League,
will look to join its Glasgow rival in the draw for the last eight
when it hosts Dundee United on Sunday.
Aberdeen needed a 67th-minute goal by Scott Vernon to earn a
replay with a 1-1 draw at home to second-tier struggler Queen of
the South. Motherwell routed Morton 6-0 while Hibernian edged past
fellow Premier League team Kilmarnock 1-0.
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ATHENS, Greece (AP) _ Greek league leader Panathinaikos lost 1-0
at Levadiakos, giving defending champion Olympiakos a chance to
narrow its five-point gap with the Athens club.
Substitute Pashalis Melissas headed past goalkeeper Orestis
Karnezis in the 83rd minute, a minute after taking the field.
Giannena won 2-1 in Kerkyra and OFI beat Ergotelis 1-0 in
Crete.
Olympiakos travels to Thessaloniki on Sunday to face
third-placed PAOK.
Article source: http://columbustelegram.com/sports/soccer/games/man-city-beats-fulham---in-premier-league/article_29e8591a-c2be-5700-9883-71b5ebec6676.html
