Swansea City 2 Manchester City 3
Swansea City Bony 45+2', 90+1'
Manchester City Fernandinho 14', Toure 58', Kolarov 66'
Manchester City made the ideal start to 2014 as second-half goals from Yaya Toure and Aleksandar Kolarov saw them beat Swansea 3-2 on Wednesday to record a fifth-straight Premier League win.
Fernandinho had fired City into an early lead, only for Wilfried Bony to head Swansea level in first-half stoppage time.
But Toure put the visitors back in front with his 12th goal of the season and Kolarov got their third with an excellent solo effort.
Bony got his second in time added on to give Swansea hope, but City held on.
City’s previous visits to Swansea had ended in a defeat and a draw but, after a difficult period either side of the break, they recovered to claim victory on this occasion.
City have now dropped points in just one of their last nine games and this three points moved them top of the table, at least until Arsenal face Cardiff later this afternoon.
It did not take long for Manuel Pellegrini’s side to threaten the home goal as Edin Dzeko, Alvaro Negredo and Jesus Navas combined, with the Bosnian firing wide from the edge of box.
Bony smashed a fierce effort just wide at the other end during a lively opening before Swansea suffered the misfortune of losing Pablo Hernandez to injury in just the eighth minute.
The winger, so often hindered by injuries since joining from Valencia, went down clutching his left hamstring and was in tears as he left the field to be replaced by Roland Lamah.
Matters got worse for Swansea when they fell behind in the 14th minute as Fernandinho scored the first Premier League goal of 2014.
Samir Nasri’s corner struck Jonathan de Guzman, and the Brazilian midfielder made no mistake in hammering the loose ball beyond Gerhard Tremmel.
Swansea responded well to going behind, with Jonjo Shelvey firing wide and De Guzman failing to beat Hart after a lovely flowing counter involving Lamah and Bony.
At the other end Jesus Navas beat Ben Davies with an outrageous dummy which led to Dzeko seeing his volley deflected wide off Chico Flores.
Swansea continued to press and referee Phil Dowd waved away penalty claims against Vincent Kompany when an Ashley Williams shot struck the Belgian’s arm.
The hosts were given two scares when Negredo and Dzeko failed to capitalise on sloppy play in the Swansea defence, and the failure to take those chances as Bony, enjoying one of his best days in a Swansea shirt, gave Joe Hart no chance with a header from De Guzman’s pinpoint cross.
Flores and Tremmel almost undid all Swansea’s good work six minutes into the second half. The pair hesitated dealing with Nasri’s lofted pass and Negredo nipped in, only to shoot straight at the keeper.
There was no such reprieve for the hosts in the 58th minute when they failed to clear a Nasri cross and Toure pounced to fire past Tremmel with the aid of a deflection off Williams.
Eight minutes later the clinching goal arrived. Kolarov robbed Wayne Routledge just inside the City half and drove forward unchallenged before cutting inside on to his right foot to beat Tremmel, who ought to have done better.
The excellent Bony worked Hart at the other end before the keeper got a stroke of luck after he came for, and got nowhere near, a De Guzman corner which Williams could only prod wide of an empty net.
Bony pulled one back in stoppage time with a superb low drive, but it was not enough for Swansea.
Stoke City 1 Everton 1
Leighton Baines converted an injury-time penalty to earn Everton a 1-1 draw at Stoke as his side dropped out of the top four. Everton hit the woodwork twice before Oussama Assaidi gave Stoke a 49th-minute lead. However, Jermaine Pennant fouled Leon Osman and Baines made no mistake from the spot.
Fulham 2 West Ham 0
Goals from Steve Sidwell and Dimitar Berbatov helped Fulham secure a 2-1 win over 10-man West Ham that lifted them out of the relegation zone. Mohamed Diame put West Ham ahead before Sidwell levelled from a corner. The West Ham captain Kevin Nolan was sent off just before the interval after kicking Fernando Amorebieta, and Berbatov poked home the winner in the 66th minute.
Sunderland 0 Aston Villa 1
Aston Villa ended their five-match winless run by beating Sunderland 1-0 through Gabriel Agbonlahor’s early goal to keep the home side bottom of the Premier League. Agbonlahor pounced on Sunderland captain Lee Cattermole’s mistake to collect the ball, round goalkeeper Vito Mannone and slot home. Sunderland’s best chance came in the 52nd minute when Fabio Borini had a seemingly legitimate goal ruled out for offside.
West Brom 1 Newcastle United 0
Saido Berahino converted an 87th-minute penalty to earn West Bromwich Albion a 1-0 victory over 10-man Newcastle, overshadowing the return of Nicolas Anelka to action after his controversial goal celebration. Newcastle looked like holding on for a draw after the 62nd-minute sending-off of the defender Mathieu Debuchy, only for goalkeeper Tim Krul to trip Matej Vydra in the area to give away the penalty.
Crystal Palace 1 Norwich 1
Crystal Palace’s recent revival under manager Tony Pulis faltered again when they were held to a 1-1 draw. It means Palace dropped back into the bottom three. In soggy conditions, Bradley Johnson fired Norwich in front from outside the box, but Palace fought back to equalise when Leroy Fer fouled Mile Jedinak and Jason Puncheon converted the penalty.
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