Manchester City beat Blackburn Rovers 3-0 for their 18th successive home league win to move five points clear of Manchester United at the top of the Premier League on Saturday.
Earlier Chelsea ended a five-match run without a win when they beat Bolton Wanderers 3-0 to ease some of the pressure on under-fire coach Andre Villas-Boas.
Goals from Mario Balotelli, Sergio Aguero and substitute Edin Dzeko moved City on to 63 points from 26 matches, five clear of the champions who have a game in hand until they play at Norwich City on Sunday.
Tottenham Hotspur, who visit Arsenal in the North London derby on Sunday, are third on 53 points, seven ahead of Chelsea with a game in hand. Arsenal are fifth on 43, the same tally as Newcastle United, who were held to a 2-2 draw by struggling Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.
City’s win was rarely in doubt after Balotelli ended a swift City counter-attack by thumping home first time after 30 minutes while Aguero took advantage of Rovers goalkeeper Paul Robinson’s flap at a corner to double their advantage after 52 minutes.
Dzeko scored with a superb header after 81 minutes - less than two minutes after replacing Balotelli.
City have become the first top flight side to win 13 consecutive home league games from the start of a season since Newcastle in 1996, and only the sixth top flight side to win 18 home league games in a row since the League started in 1888.
Comments »