Premier League round-up

Pompey deny Sunderland as Man City beat Bolton

Last updated: 10th February 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Premier League round-up

Tevez: On the spot for Man City

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Fulham 3 Burnley 0
Manchester City 2 Bolton 0
Portsmouth 1 Sunderland 1
Wigan 1 Stoke 1

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Manchester City overcame Bolton, Portsmouth salvaged a draw against Sunderland, Fulham saw off Burnley and Stoke held Wigan.

Portsmouth probably feel that everything is going against them at present after another turbulent few days away from the pitch, but a last-gasp equaliser from Aruna Dindane rescued a 1-1 draw at home to Sunderland in a game which saw three red cards

There was real drama inside the opening 12 minutes when Pompey conceded a penalty for a foul on Darren Bent and Ricardo Rocha was eventually sent off after an initial case of mistaken identity involving Hassan Yebda.

Bent ended the farce by slotting the spot-kick in off the post, although Avram Grant's side responded with great spirit and were given increased hope when Lee Cattermole was dismissed for two bookable offences in quick succession early in the second half.

Substitute David Meyler was given his marching orders late on for swinging an arm at Steve Finnan as Sunderland, now reduced to nine men, looked to withstand a Portsmouth onslaught to end their long wait for a win.

It looked as though the Black Cats would cling on until Dindane popped up in stoppage time to grab a crucial point for his team and turn a night of frustration into something more positive.

Manchester City bounced back from a disappointing defeat to Hull City on Saturday with a 2-0 victory over Bolton that takes them level on points with fourth-placed Liverpool, and still with a game in hand.

Jack Wilshere made his Bolton debut and Patrick Vieira started for Manchester City, but it was another newcomer who caught the eye with a sparkling performance at Eastlands.

Adam Johnson, a January signing from Middlesbrough, helped make the breakthrough just after the half hour mark when he was felled by Paul Robinson in the box after a twisting run and Jussi Jaaskelainen failed to keep out Carlos Tevez's penalty.

Emmanuel Adebayor then added a second in the 73rd minute, controlling Vieira's long pass before rifling home an unstoppable finish, to pile the pressure on relegation-threatened Bolton.

Wigan inched one point further clear of the drop zone after playing out a 1-1 draw with Stoke in an entertaining encounter at the DW Stadium.

The Latics needed just 14 minutes to open the scoring as Paul Scharner headed home powerfully from a Charles N'Zogbia free-kick.

Stoke battled hard in pursuit of a leveller and were rewarded in the 74th minute when Tuncay Sanli escaped his marker to nod in Matthew Etherington's right-wing cross.

Burnley claimed their first win under Brian Laws at the weekend but their away form shows no sign of improvement following a 3-0 defeat to Fulham at Craven Cottage.

Danny Murphy fired Fulham in front midway through the first half with a neat finish to a well-worked move, before David Elm doubled their advantage in the 31st minute after Brian Jensen could only parry a Bobby Zamora shot.

Zamora then curled a low free-kick into the bottom corner from just outside the area nine minutes into the second period and Fulham cruised through to the final whistle.