By Fitzgerald Cecilio

Substitute Edin Dzeko delivered the game-winning goal in the 87th minute as Manchester City edged Tottenham Hotspur, 2-1, Sunday at Etihad Stadium to stay within striking distance of Premier League leader and bitter rival Manchester United

The win, which manager Roberto Mancini described as "huge", vaulted City to second place with 25 markers, two points behind United.

"It was a huge win because it was a difficult moment," Mancini said. "We had a lot of important players injured and today I saw the same spirit from the players that I saw last year.

"In the first half we played well. Tottenham, I didn't feel, had chances apart from a couple of set-pieces. We need to improve there. But after they scored first we played fantastic. Today we deserved to win this game, the players were fantastic," Mancini added.

Steven Caulker gave the Hotspur a 1-0 halftime lead, taking advantage of slack marking to head a free-kick.

Sergio Aguero equalized in the 65th before Dzeko completed City's comeback with a neat finish from David Silva's pass in the 87th minute for his seventh goal this season, six coming off the bench.

"He is not happy," Mancini said of Dzeko. "A player who is happy on the bench does not exist. We had three important strikers today, last year we won the championship because of goals from our strikers, today we missed some goals from them but hopefully they can score again soon."

Meanwhile, Luis Suarez dealt a huge double blow to Chelsea's Barclays Premier League title hopes after snatching a draw for Liverpool at Stamford Bridge.

John Terry looked set to enjoy a dream return to action after his four-match ban when he powered the European champions ahead from a corner at Stamford Bridge in the 20th minute.

The draw prevented Chelsea from climbing back into second place as it recorded a third league game without a win, staying three points behind Manchester United at the top of the table.

In other match, Kevin Nolan struck in the 39th minute to lift West Ham United past Newcastle United, 1-0.

Newcastle had several chances to score from attacks by Demba Ba and Hatem Ben Arfa but West Ham goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen thwarted all the threats en route to a clean slate.

 

 

Dzeko 87th-minute Goal Lifts Manchester City Past Tottenham