Yaya Toure’s late penalty kept Manchester City on top of the Premier

League as they secured a dramatic 2-1 victory over Norwich on Saturday.

Nicolas Otamendi looked to have put Manuel Pellegrini’s side on

course for victory when he powered in a header from Kevin De Bruyne’s

corner midway through the second half.

City goalkeeper Joe Hart stumbled backwards as he tried to gather a

Robbie Brady cross, allowing Cameron Jerome to tap in an equaliser with

seven minutes left.

But Pellegrini’s side grabbed the win in the closing minutes as

Russell Martin handled Raheem Sterling’s goalbound shot and was sent

off, before Toure drove in the resulting penalty.

Aleksandar Kolarov missed a second penalty in stoppage-time, but City

did enough to stay ahead of Arsenal on goal difference as they prepare

for a crucial Champions League Group D trip to Sevilla on Tuesday.

Norwich slipped to a fourth successive league defeat, but turned in a

much better performance than they did in losing 7-0 on their last visit

to Eastlands two years ago.

In an attempt to halt their losing run, Norwich manager Alex Neil

fielded a back five supported by four in midfield with Jerome asked to

play as a lone striker.

For a long time, the plan succeeded in frustrating a City side who had scored 18 goals in their previous four home matches.

Kelechi Iheanacho, given his first league start in attack, showed

some nice touches but was only rarely able to threaten, and was replaced

by Sterling early in the second half.

His strike partner Wilfried Bony did get closer to goal, with an early shot on the turn beaten out by John Ruddy.

Norwich did create the odd first-half chance themselves, with

Sebastien Bassong glancing a Matt Jarvis cross wide under pressure from

Hart after the home side had struggled to clear a corner.

Bony, asked to shoulder City’s goalscoring burden in the continuing

absence of hamstring injury victim Sergio Aguero, twice blasted wide

with good chances when a little composure might have been more

effective.

Hart needed to tip over a fierce shot from Jarvis, who broke well on

to Brady’s pass, but Pellegrini’s team ended the half on top.

Ruddy turned aside a Toure free-kick and captain Vincent Kompany heading wide from De Bruyne’s corner.

Bony was left appealing unsuccessfully for a penalty early in the second half as he went down under a Bassong challenge.

Sterling’s pace on the break did give the home side an added threat

once he came on, with one burst upfield ending as he played in Jesus

Navas, who set up Toure to bend a shot wide.

But it was thanks to a centre-back that they finally broke through,

as Otamendi powered in his first City goal with an unstoppable header.

Bony nearly added a second moments later, bundling Bacary Sagna’s cross just wide.

But with seven minutes left, Hart dropped a Brady cross right at the

feet of Jerome, who turned the loose ball into the net for the

equaliser.

There was further drama to come, with two City penalties in the closing minutes. 

First Ruddy fumbled a Navas cross, was caught out of position as he

chased the loose ball and saw Sterling’s shot handled by Martin.

With the Norwich captain dismissed, Toure lashed in the penalty.

Deep into stoppage-time, Sterling broke into the area and was fouled

by Brady but, with Toure having been substituted, Kolarov blasted the

penalty wide with the last kick of the game.

Watford cruise past calamitous Hammers

West Ham’s inconsistent season continued as they were beaten 2-0 by

Watford on Saturday, while they had James Collins sent off late on.

Having recorded victories over champions Chelsea, leaders Manchester

City, Arsenal and Liverpool this season, the Hammers have, however,

struggled against the relative minnows.

They previously lost at home to both Bournemouth and Leicester while failing to beat the likes of Norwich and Sunderland.

And they were out of sorts as an Odion Ighalo brace knocked the Irons out of the top four.

It could have been worse too as Nathan Ake, Ighalo and Troy Deeney

all went close in the first half; West Ham goalkeeper Adrian saving well

from Ake.

The opener came on 39 minutes after a gaffe from West Ham’s giant

striker Andy Carroll, whose scuffed clearance in his own box fell to Ake

to tee up Ighalo to bundle in.

Watford doubled their lead just after the restart when another poor

clearance, from James Tomkins this time, allowed Ighalo to fire his

seventh goal of the season into the roof of the net.

Slaven Bilic’s team did have their chances but Enner Valencia could only hit the post after pouncing on a poor back pass.

And worse was to follow late on as Collins was shown a straight red card for kicking out at Ighalo.

The win moved Watford up into mid-table security while West Ham dropped to fifth.

CSKA beat Ufa, Mordovia hold Zenit

CSKA Moscow saw off strugglers Ufa 2-0 at Khimki Arena on Saturday to remain unbeaten in the Russian Premier League.

Goals by full back Sergei Ignashevich and Serbian playmaker Zoran

Tosic set the league leaders on their way to a morale-boosting win ahead

of Manchester United’s visit next week.

CSKA, the league’s only undefeated side, are nine points clear of city rivals Lokomotiv, who face Kuban Krasnodar on Sunday. 

Reigning champions Zenit St Petersburg, held to a 0-0 draw by visitors Mordovia Saransk, are one point further back in third.

“Our players aren’t in their best conditions because of cumulative

fatigue and their main task is to force themselves to play at their

best,” CSKA manager Leonid Slutsky said.

“But despite all these problems I think today we’ve performed classy football and gained a convincing victory.”

CSKA dominated with Ignashevich lifting the Muscovites in front in

the 21st minute from the penalty spot after Ufa skipper Pavel Alikin

played handball in his area.

In the 62nd minute Tosic doubled CSKA’s lead when he received a short

cross by Georgi Milanov and scored by the far left post from just

inside the area.

Elsewhere, defending champions Zenit failed to overcome the visitors

Mardovia Saransk ahead of next week’s Champions League match with Lyon.

Zenit, who were without Brazilian star Hulk, who has suffered a minor

muscle injury in Wednesday’s Russian Cup match with Tosno, experienced

serious problems in front of Mordovia’s net squandering all of their

chances in the first half.

After the interval Zenit continued to test the visiting side’s

defence but to no avail as Mordovia sat back replying on rare but

dangerous counter-attacks.

In the 70th minute Zenit midfielder Oleg Shatov had the best chance

for an opener as he lobbed the ball over the ‘keeper Nukri Revishvili

from the edge of the six-yard box but Mordovia’s full back Maxim Tishkin

cleared his attempt.

“We’ve created a lot of chances but failed to convert them,” Zenit manager Andre Villas-Boas said.

“It’s the problem that we experience in our last two league matches,

against Kuban and today as well. It’s all because of our lack of

efficiency.”