Toure double takes Man City to brink of title

English Premier League ResultsNewcastle 0-2 Man CityAston Villa 1-1 TottenhamBolton 2-2 West BromFulham 2-1 SunderlandQPR 1-0 StokeWolves 0-0 EvertonMan Utd 2-0 SwanseaManchester City and Manchester United will go into the final day of the season level on points. City recorded a huge 2-0 win at Newcastle before United beat Swansea by the same scoreline, leaving Roberto Mancini’s men with an eight-goal advantage ahead of the final day of the season.Yaya Toure scored both of City’s goals after 70 and 89 minutes to move them on to 86 points with just next week’s game at home to Queens Park Rangers to come.The game turned when City manager Roberto Mancini brought on Nigel de Jong for Samir Nasri after an hour and pushed Toure forward. He made all the difference with his two late goals.At Old Trafford, Paul Scholes and Ashley Young were on target as Manchester United comfortably beat Swansea to keep their title hopes alive going into the final day.Scholes stabbed in from close range just before the half-hour mark and Young curled home from 18 yards.United, keen to reduce their goal difference deficit on City, failed to add to their lead after the break.Despite moving level on points with Manchester City, they are still eight goals behind Roberto Mancini’s men.“We knew it was going to be tough,” he told the BBC. “I am very happy, it is the first time I have scored two goals in one game in my career. And it brings us closer to the title. I am happy with my performance and the performance of the team.“We have to be careful, it is not over. QPR are fighting for relegation and that will not be easy. But we are at home, that will give us the advantage.”Mancini told the BBC: “It is not finished. It is important that we get three points next week, we need a big effort - there is one game more.“QPR will be tough, they are fighting for relegation. Nothing changes. It is ours to lose. It doesn’t depend on other teams anymore.”United have 86 points and have one game to play - their next week’s match away to Sunderland and City have a better goal difference than United. Tottenham Hotspur missed the chance to leapfrog Arsenal and move into third place despite dominating Aston Villa at Villa Park where the game finished in a 1-1 draw.Ciaran Clark put Villa ahead in the 35th minute and Emmanuel Adebayor equalised for Spurs with a 61st-minute penalty.It was a disappointing result for Spurs as a victory would have left their destiny in their own hands against Fulham next week - a match defender Danny Rose will miss after a red card for a two-footed lunge on ex-Spurs team mate Alan Hutton.Sunday’s results meant that Arsenal, who were held to a 3-3 draw at home by Norwich City on Saturday, stayed third on 67 followed by Spurs on 66, Newcastle 65 and Chelsea on 61.Chelsea have two matches left, their first a visit to Anfield on Tuesday, postponed from Saturday when the two sides met in the FA Cup final. They finish at home against Blackburn Rovers next week and maintain a remote mathematical chance of finishing third themselves.Improved chancesAt the other end of the table QPR improved their chances of avoiding an immediate return to the Championship (second division) when they beat Stoke City 1-0 with Djibril Cisse scoring his fifth goal in seven league appearances for Rangers late in the game as QPR secured a fifth successive home win.That result left Bolton Wanderers deep in trouble in 18th place after being held to a 2-2 draw at home by West Bromwich Albion.Bolton led 2-0 with 16 minutes to play after a first-half penalty from Martin Petrov and a Billy Jones own goal after 74 minutes, but WBA, playing their second-to-last game under new England coach Roy Hodgson, came back for a point with goals from Chris Brunt and James Morrison.The draw with Spurs lifted Villa to 38 points and they are now safe, one point ahead of QPR and Wigan Athletic and three clear of Bolton.Blackburn, who are one off the bottom, play Wigan on Monday and if they fail to win, they will join already-relegated Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Championship next season.Wolves drew 0-0 with Everton on Sunday to end a sequence of nine home league defeats.Manchester City last won the title 44 years ago, clinching it with a win at Newcastle and history appears to be repeating itself after Sunday’s result there.Toure struck the opener when he curled a low shot past Tim Krul from 20 metres out and added the second from close range a minute from time.The defeat left Newcastle, still chasing a top-four finish, in fifth place with one match to play.

Sports

Toure double takes Man City to brink of title