• Premier League round-up

City fend off Wolves as Arsenal thrash Hammers

The Toure brothers were on target for Manchester City © Getty Images

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Premier League gallery

Manchester City rallied from the shock of going a goal behind to beat Wolves 4-3 and surge to the top of the Premier League.

City handed a debut to new signing Edin Dzeko but it was captain Carlos Tevez who earned the plaudits with two of the four goals.

Wolves took a shock lead when Nenad Mijilas beat Joe Hart from close range after the keeper had made a brilliant save seconds earlier. It was a lead the visitors were deserving of and they had further chances, but were made to pay a heavy price for failing to convert.

The unlikely source of Kolo Toure drew City level shortly before the interval when stabbing home a corner that was flicked on by Vincent Kompany. Wolves attempted to dig in but were undone by a piece of brilliance from Tevez who picked up the ball, drove into the area and fired beyond Wayne Hennessey.

If Kolo Toure was an unlikely source of a goal, then his brother Yaya was arguably a bigger shock. But the midfield destroyer showed his prowess in front of the target when collecting a flick from Dzeko and firing home.

Wolves looked a beaten side as Tevez helped himself to a second with a stooping header, but Mick McCarthy's men rallied when Kevin Doyle slotted home a penalty following some sloppy play from Joleon Lescott and Ronald Zubar set up a grandstand finish when bundling the ball over the line with four minutes remaining.

Arsenal kept pace with their title rivals with an altogether more comfortable 3-0 victory against a lacklustre West Ham United.

Theo Walcott terrorised Wayne Bridge all evening, including nipping in ahead of the left-back to score Arsenal's second goal © Getty Images

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With reports about the future of Hammers boss Avram Grant swirling prior to kick-off, the Israeli's team gave him little hope to cling to throughout a depressing 90 minutes. Robin van Persie opened the scoring midway through the first half with a one-touch finish after good work from Theo Walcott, before Walcott himself nipped in ahead of new signing Wayne Bridge to finish off Samir Nasri's cut-back and give the visitors a comfortable half-time lead.

The Gunners' domination was illustrated by the fact their captain Cesc Fabregas managed to touch the ball more times, 81, than the entire West Ham midfield during the first 45. The second period was little different, with a deflected Bridge free-kick about all the home support had to cheer about.

That was about as positive as it got for Bridge, who continued to struggle to deal with the runs of Walcott and eventually upended the England winger to concede a late penalty. Van Persie stepped up to take the resulting kick, and made no mistake as he buried the shot low and beyond Rob Green's outstretched right hand to clinch all three points.

Chelsea required a victory to keep their faltering title challenge on the rails and Branislav Ivanovic provided the Blues with a vital three points in a 2-0 win over Blackburn.

Carlo Ancelotti's side once again looked laboured, but John Terry flicked on a second-half corner and Ivanovic stabbed home following a scramble. Ivanovic turned provider on 76 minutes, as he reacted well to flick the ball into the path of Nicolas Anelka who poked the ball beyond Paul Robinson.

Paul Robinson was unable to keep out Branislav Ivanovic's shot © PA Photos

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Following a brilliant win over Liverpool in midweek, Blackpool were brought down to earth with a shuddering thud as West Brom claimed a 3-2 win at the Hawthorns. It started brightly for the Tangerines as David Vaughan put them ahead on 11 minutes with an arrowed shot.

The Baggies rallied towards the end of the second half and Peter Odemwingie ended a five-game barren run with a fine goal - the striker collected a Graham Dorrans pass with one foot before slotting home with the other.

The match swung West Brom's way on 52 minutes, as DJ Campbell missed a sitter for Blackpool and West Brom duly broke clear - allowing James Morrison to score. Blackpool are a team that refuse to lie down and Gary Taylor-Fletcher levelled the scores, but a second from Odemwingie on 87 minutes sealed the points for West Brom.

Stoke City put further daylight between themselves and the drop zone with a 2-0 win over Bolton Wanderers. Danny Higginbotham was handed a rare Premier League start and rewarded Tony Pulis when bundling the ball just over the line to open the scoring. The Trotters failed to fashion a response and Matthew Etherington won and then converted a penalty on 63 minutes to secure the three points.

Andrew Johnson ended a goal drought in the Premier League that stretched back to March 2009 to earn Fulham a 1-1 draw at Wigan. Hugo Rodallega latched on to a goal kick from Ali Al-Habsi to fire Wigan ahead, but Mark Hughes threw on Johnson from the bench and he collected a pass from Clint Dempsey before firing home the leveller.

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