Manchester City remains two points ahead of champion Manchester United at the top of the English Premier League after a 1-0 victory over Arsenal.
David Silva scored the only goal in the 53rd minute after Mario Balotelli cut in from the left and let fly with a powerful low shot that Arsenal keeper Wojciech Szczesny could not hold.
Thomas Vermaelen prevented Sergio Aguero netting the rebound, but Silva then pounced to score from close range.
Pablo Zabaleta nearly made it 2-0 to the hosts when his shot beat Szczesny but bounced off the keeper's right post.
England goalkeeper Joe Hart then preserved City's lead in the 90th minute when he tipped over a shot from Vermaelen that came through a crowd of players. Defeat meant Arsenal, beaten for the first time in nine games, stays fifth in the table, 12 points behind City.
"It was very important after Chelsea - we didn't deserve to lose that game," City manager Roberto Mancini said.
"It was a big test for our character and I think we showed we are a strong team ... we know we shall fight with United and Tottenham and the other teams who are very strong."
His Arsenal counterpart, Arsene Wenger, added: "We were unlucky because we had chances."
United briefly returned to the summit a couple of hours earlier after a 2-0 win away to Queens Park Rangers.
Wayne Rooney opened the scoring within 60 seconds heading home Antonio Valencia's cross and Michael Carrick made the game safe in the 56th minute when, after intercepting a loose square ball from Rangers midfielder Joey Barton, he carried the ball 40 yards before netting from the edge of the box.
"It was a good team performance; we played some good football and will take a 2-0 win away from home," United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said.
Meanwhile Tottenham moved up into third place, leapfrogging Chelsea to become London's top club, with a 1-0 win at home to strugglers Sunderland.
Russia striker Roman Pavlyuchenko scored the only goal of the game at White Hart Lane just after the hour mark.
A stray ball from Sunderland's Wes Brown found its way to Rafael van der Vaart, whose clever reverse pass allowed Pavlyuchenko to fire home the winner.
"Pav is a fantastic player, he's got great ability, he's a great finisher - top drawer as a player," Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp said.
Liverpool went above Newcastle into sixth spot with a 2-0 win away to Aston Villa.
Both its goals came from corners, with Craig Bellamy forcing the ball home from close range in the 11th minute and four minutes later Martin Skrtel doubled the advantage heading past American keeper Brad Guzan.
Liverpool striker Luis Suarez could have extended the visitors' lead but was twice denied by the woodwork.
"We passed the ball and moved it and hit the bar twice, I think it was well deserved three points for us," Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish said.
AFP
Tags: sport, english-premier, soccer, england, united-kingdom First posted December 19, 2011 07:15:13
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