TheCable

Manchester City cut Chelsea’s lead at the top of the Barclays Premier League to three points as they beat Everton 1-0 at the Etihad.

Yaya Toure’s 24th-minute penalty after Phil Jagielka had fouled James Milner beat Tim Howard from 12 yards.

Man City lost top scorer, Sergio Aguero, who left the field in tears with a knee injury after just three minutes.

With this victory and the busy festive period fast approaching, City look unlikely to let go of their title without a fight.

Chelsea lost their unbeaten start to the season as they were beaten 2-1 at Newcastle.

Papiss Cisse scored both goals in the second half and though Didier Drogba pulled one back after Steven Taylor had been sent off, Newcastle hung on to move up to seventh.

Chelsea remain top with a three-point lead after City’s victory at the Etihad.

Arsenal missed the chance to break into the top four as they were beaten 3-2 at Stoke, who climbed to 12th.

Peter Crouch scored in the first minute and Stoke were 3-0 up at half-time courtesy of Bojan Krkic and Jon Walters before goals by Santi Cazorla and Aaron Ramsey cut the deficit to one with 20 minutes left.

But the sending-off of Calumn Chambers 12 minutes from time stopped Arsenal in their tracks and they could not find an equaliser.

Sunderland made it three clean sheets from four games, as they picked up a point against Liverpool at Anfield as the Reds failed to make it three consecutive wins in the league.

The best chances of the game came in the second half, with Connor Wickham flashing a volley wide across goal and then in the final 10 minutes Jordi Gomez saw a shot pushed behind by former Sunderland keeper Simon Mignolet.

Liverpool’s best opportunity fell to Philippe Coutinho, but Costel Pantilimon was equal to it.

The result meant Sunderland stay 14th in the table while Liverpool slipped a place to ninth.

Second-half goals from Leroy Fer and Charlie Austin helped Queens Park Rangers move out of the relegation zone with a 2-0 win over Burnley at Loftus Road.

Fer opened the score at the start of the second half, before the in-form QPR striker doubled the lead on 74 minutes.

Austin, who had earlier been booked, was then sent off just minutes after scoring, but there was not enough time remaining for the Clarets to stage a comeback.

Hull City and West Bromwich Albion played out a 0-0 draw at the KC Stadium, as both teams remain at the wrong end of the table.

West Brom’s Graham Dorrans had an early penalty kick saved by Alan McGregor, while Hull struggled to break down a stubborn Baggies defense throughout.

West Brom are now without a win in five and Hull haven’t won in eight.

Tottenham looked to have turned a corner when they overcame Everton last weekend, yet that was followed by a heavy defeat to rivals Chelsea and things did not get much better against Crystal Palace.

Poor finishing and saves from Hugo Lloris thwarted Palace in their bid to win at White Hart Lane for the first time since 1997.

This was the fifth time in eight league matches that Spurs have failed to win on home soil.