City ease past West Ham

 London, April 19 

James Collins’s freak own goal and Sergio Aguero’s 20th league strike of the season secured a routine win and the only surprise was that City failed to add to their lead after the Argentine’s 36th-minute effort.

The victory came after a bad week in which City were beaten 4-2 by United in the Manchester derby, prompting speculation about the future of manager Manuel Pellegrini and a number of leading players. City playmaker David Silva was carried off on a stretcher in the second half with a head injury after he was caught by the elbow of Cheikhou Kouyate.

Champions City have 64 points, one behind United who lost 1-0 at Chelsea on Saturday, and two adrift of second-placed Arsenal who have a game in hand.

West Ham, who climbed as high as fourth in the table in December, remained 10th having won just one of their last 11 league matches.

“When we lose we have a lot of criticism and that is part of football,” City midfielder Yaya Toure said. “Today we showed great team spirit and it was very important to get the three points today. We will continue to fight until the end.” 

Newcastle United sank to a sixth straight league defeat and are not yet safe from relegation after losing 3-1 to Tottenham Hotspur at St James’ Park with Harry Kane grabbing the third to reach 30 goals for the season in all competitions. — Reuters