Tevez sinks Chelsea as Man Utd close in

Carlos Tevez was the toast of all Manchester after his goal earned City a win over Chelsea and handed United a lifeline in the title race. Sir Alex Ferguson's men romped to victory over West Ham and Arsenal also made up ground while Liverpool were held to a goalless draw by Blackburn...

CITY WIN CASH CLASHAfter seven successive draws, Manchester City finally won a game - and may have blown the title race open in the process. After failing to beat the likes of Hull, Burnley and Wigan during their long winless run, Mark Hughes's team at last came good against the mighty Chelsea - in a match dubbed the Clash of the Cash.

Despite going a goal down in front of their own fans, City clawed their way back into the game and won it thanks to Carlos Tevez's second-half free kick and Shay Given's late penalty save (off a weak Frank Lampard effort).

The result was toasted throughout Manchester as City served notice that they are indeed a force to be reckoned with, and United took the opportunity to close the gap at the top of the table to just two points.

The win capped a great week for City who also knocked Arsenal out of the Carling Cup in Wednesday. They are certainly making their presence felt among the big boys now.

GUNNERS BACK ON TRACKIt's big and burly teams like Stoke that leave Arsene Wenger in a cold sweat, so the increasingly grumpy Frenchman can't have been relishing the prospect of a visit from the Potters on Saturday. His misfiring Gunners had lost their two previous league games - seriously denting their title aspirations - and had been bundled out of the Carling Cup by Manchester City.

But Wenger's 500th league match as Arsenal boss and the club's 100th game at the Emirates ended happily for Gunners fans as they ran out 2-0 winners thanks to strikes from Andrei Arshavin (above), on sparkling form in the Van Persie role, and Aaron Ramsay.

The three points also lifted Arsenal above their local rivals Spurs and into third place in the table, eight points behind Chelsea and six off Manchester United, who romped to a 4-0 win over West Ham on Saturday.

WOUNDED TIGERSpare a thought for Hull midfielder Jimmy Bullard who left Villa Park in tears after his injury jinx returned to haunt him on Saturday. The Tigers' record signing had to leave the field after damaging his left knee in a tackle with Aston Villa's James Milner, just 19 minutes into Hull's 3-0 defeat.

Bullard joined Hull in January from Fulham for £5m, but injured his right knee just 37 minutes into his debut and had to undergo surgery in the United States. He had earlier endured a year out with a similar injury while at Fulham.

When the 31-year-old returned to action in October he had an immediate impact. He helped turn Hull's fortunes around and won the Premier League player of the month award for November.

Hull boss Phil Brown - who probably owes his job to Bullard - said the only 'positive' was that the injury was not to the knee he had previously injured. The full extent of the damage is not yet known.

PAYING THE PENALTYIt was another action packed round of matches in the Premier League but for once the goalkeepers had something to smile about. Of the five penalties awarded over the weekend four were saved - and two of those saves had a direct result on the outcome of the match.

Manchester City's Shay Given thwarted Chelsea's Frank Lampard, who is normally lethal from the spot, to earn his side a famous victory over the league leaders. No less vital was Tim Howard's dramatic injury time stop to deny Jermain Defoe, which earned Everton a crucial point against Spurs.

Stoke keeper Thomas Sorensen saved a Cesc Fabregas penalty against Arsenal - though the Gunners went on to win 2-0 - and Burnley's Brian Jensen denied Aruna Didane from the spot, although the Portsmouth man had the last laugh as he made up for his miss with a second-half goal that sealed Pompey's win.

The only penalty taker to find the net was Villa's John Carew who converted his spot kick against Hull.

PUNCHY PULISMany a Christmas party has ended in fisticuffs, but it seems that the fighting began early at Stoke if reports of a changing room bust up between manager Tony Pulis and striker James Beattie are true.

The player ended up in a physical confrontation with his manager after the Potters' 2-0 defeat at Arsenal on Saturday. Pulis was so disappointed with his side's performance that he ordered them in for training on Monday. That did not go down well with the Stoke players who were expecting the day off after their festive knees-up in London on Sunday night.

When Beattie complained a fight allegedly ensued in which punches were thrown and Pulis had to be pulled away from the player by backroom staff. Christmas cheer may be in short supply at the Britannia Stadium this week. ·