LONDON (AP) — Carlos Tevez curled in a free-kick to give Manchester City a 2-1 victory over leaders Chelsea yesterday and halt their run of seven Premier League draws.

City’s first victory since September did a huge favour for neighbour Manchester United, with the defending champions thrashing West Ham 4-0 to close the gap on Chelsea to two-points.

Arsenal climbed to third by beating Stoke 2-0, Aston Villa moved up to fifth with a 3-0 victory over Hull, but Liverpool squandered another chance to keep up with the top four by drawing 0-0 at Blackburn.

In the battle against relegation, Portsmouth stayed bottom despite beating Burnley 2-0 and Wolverhampton moved above Bolton in the drop zone by beating Gary Megson’s side 2-1.

Birmingham continued their surge up the standings by winning 3-2 at Wigan to claim a third straight victory.

Manchester City got off to the worst possible start with Emmanuel Adebayor accidentally turning the ball into his own net after goalkeeper Shay Given had parried Nicolas Anelka’s eighth-minute shot.

But the Togo striker made amends in the 37th when he tapped home the rebound from close range after his initial effort had bounced back off Chelsea captain John Terry.

As City pushed for a winner, Shaun Wright-Phillips won a free-kick when he was fouled by Ricardo Carvalho. Tevez strode up and curled the ball around the defensive wall and beyond goalkeeper Petr Cech in the 56th.

Chelsea were handed lifeline when Nedum Onuoha fouled striker Didier Drogba late in the match, but Lampard’s resulting penalty kick was saved by Shay Given.

At Upton Park, veteran United veteran Paul Scholes scored his 99th Premier League goal in the rout of West Ham.

The 35-year-old Scholes had indicated on the eve of the match that he could retire at the end of the season because of his failure to make “much of a contribution” to the team.

But the former England international rebutted his own criticism on the stroke of half-time with a trademark volley from 20 metres.

Darron Gibson, Antonio Valencia and Wayne Rooney each scored in an 11-minute burst of goals in the second half.

United manager Alex Ferguson had been forced to field a makeshift defense due to injuries, with midfielder Darren Fletcher at right back. And when captain Gary Neville, playing at center back, limped off after 34 minutes with a groin injury, Michael Carrick was shifted into the back four.

United finished the match with 10 men after Wes Brown limped off and, with all three substitutes used, Giggs was deployed at left back.

Arsenal also overcame injury problems, with Eduardo da Silva the latest casualty after pulling out before kick-off with a muscle injury. That left Andrei Arshavin to lead the strike force.

Cesc Fabregas had an early penalty kick saved by Thomas Sorensen, but the Arsenal captain exchanged passes with Arshavin, who volleyed in the club’s first domestic goal since November 7.

Aaron Ramsey came off the bench in the second half to secure Arsenal’s win, dribbling inside the box and flicking the ball past Sorensen.