adminManchester — Fernandinho volleyed in an 89th-minute winner as Manchester City beat Aston Villa 3-2 to cement a place in the English Premier League’s top four for the soon-to-be-deposed champions. Sergio Aguero pounced on an early mistake by goalkeeper Brad Guzan to give City a third-minute lead, and Aleksandar Kolarov made it 2-0 after an hour when he curled a free kick through the defensive wall.
Villa looked like salvaging a point after goals by Tom Cleverley and Carlos Sanchez — following misjudgments by goalkeeper Joe Hart — pulled the relegation strugglers level by the 85th.
There was still time for a City corner to drift through a crowded penalty box to Fernandinho, who chested the ball down, and found the net from eight metres.
City moved provisionally to second place.
Burnley, Queens Park Rangers and Sunderland slipped closer to the relegation trapdoor in the Premier League yesterday as Leicester City and Hull City recorded timely victories.
Bottom club Burnley lost 1-0 at home to Leicester in agonising circumstances, with Jamie Vardy notching a 60th-minute winner for the visitors just seconds after Burnley’s Matt Taylor had hit the post with a penalty.
Vardy poked the ball over the line after Michael Duff had turned a Marc Albrighton cross towards his own goal to give Leicester a fourth successive win, which took Nigel Pearson’s side out of the bottom three.
“The players have deserved the breaks they’ve got, through a lot of honesty, hard work and ability,” said Leicester manager Pearson. “But if people think the hard work’s done, they’re in for a shock.”
Burnley are now five points adrift of safety having played a game more than many of the teams above them and QPR are just a point better off following a 0-0 draw at home to West Ham United.
Charlie Austin should have put QPR ahead from the penalty spot mid-way through the first half after James Collins was penalised for handball, but West Ham goalkeeper Adrian saved with his legs.
Sunderland slipped into the relegation places after a 1-1 draw at Stoke City, who equalised through a powerful Charlie Adam strike after Connor Wickham had given the visitors a first-minute lead.
Hull capitalised on their rivals’ slip-ups by ending a six-game winless run with a 2-0 victory at Crystal Palace, courtesy of a second-half brace from Senegalese striker Dame N’Doye.
Free-falling Newcastle United are also in danger of being sucked into the relegation scrap after losing 3-2 at home to Swansea City.
Ayoze Perez gave John Carver’s side a 20th-minute lead at St James’ Park, but Swansea hit back through Nelson Oliveira, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Jack Cork before Siem de Jong claimed a late consolation for the hosts.
Newcastle have now lost seven consecutive league games for the first time since 1977.
Meanwhile, Liverpool failed to make ground on the Champions League places after drawing 0-0 at West Bromwich Albion in captain Steven Gerrard’s 500th league game.
Liverpool winger Jordon Ibe came closest to breaking the deadlock with a shot that hit the crossbar after a one-two with Mario Balotelli.
It left Brendan Rodgers’ team six points below the top four in fifth place, but they remain in pole position in the Europa League qualifying race after Tottenham Hotspur drew 2-2 at Southampton.
Graziano Pelle exploited mistakes by Ryan Mason and Ben Davies to poke Southampton in front in the 29th minute, but Erik Lamela equalised just before halftime when Eric Dier’s cross hit his arm and flew in.
Pelle restored the visitors’ lead with a thumping header from substitute Shane Long’s cross 20 minutes into the second half, only for Nacer Chadli to level five minutes later after running onto a pass from Dier.
“I was focused on my job, but it was a very tough and emotional game for me,” said Spurs head coach Mauricio Pochettino, who left Southampton last year.
“It was difficult because I still love Southampton and I have very good memories here.”
Tottenham trail Liverpool on goal difference and remain a point above Southampton in sixth place.
The teams finishing fifth and sixth will qualify for the Europa League, while victory for Arsenal over Aston Villa in the FA Cup final would also send the team finishing seventh into Europe’s second-tier competition.
Arsenal host leaders Chelsea on Sunday, while United travel to Everton.
Results
Southampton 2-2 Tottenham FT
Burnley 0-1 Leicester FT
Crystal Palace 0-2 Hull FT
Newcastle 2-3 Swansea FT
QPR 0-0 West Ham FT
Stoke 1-1 Sunderland FT
West Brom 0- 0 Liverpool
Manchester City 3-2 Aston Villa
Fixtures: Today
Everton v Manchester United (2.30pm), Arsenal v Chelsea (5pm). — AP/AFP
Londile Moyo
Online Reporter