LONDON – Manchester City beat Queens Park Rangers 3-2 Saturday on Yaya Toure's goal with 16 minutes left to remain five points ahead of second-place Manchester United in the English Premier League.
Manchester United looked set to close the gap on its city rival. But goals by Edin Dzeko and David Silva were offset by Jay Bothroyd and Heidar Helguson, and Toure headed in Alexsandr Kolarov's left-wing cross to give the team its 10th win in 11 league games.
United beat Sunderland 1-0 to mark Alex Ferguson's 25th anniversary as manager, while Chelsea kept in contention with a 1-0 win at Blackburn.
"It was a long day," Ferguson said. "I was worried we wouldn't play well. I thought we were anxious. Sometimes these emotional occasions — which for me it was — get through to them."
The lone goal came in the final minute of the first half when defender Wes Brown headed a ball into his own net. He was making his return to his former club after leaving in July.
Ferguson walked onto the field through a guard of honor formed by United and Sunderland. A crowd of 75,570 gave Ferguson an ovation and chief executive David Gill announced the north stand was being renamed after him.
"I never expected that," Ferguson said. "It was a real surprise."
Chelsea scored on Frank Lampard's 50th-minute header and recorded its first shutout since opening day to stay within four points of second-place United. Newcastle remained unbeaten in third place after a 2-1 win over Everton. Arsenal's resurgence continued with a 3-0 win over West Bromwich Albion.
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ROME (AP) — Roma beat Novara 2-0 to snap a two-match losing streak and ease the pressure on manager Luis Enrique in the Serie A.
Substitute Bojan Krkic put Roma in front with a volley following a lob pass from Miralem Pjanic in the 72nd minute. Argentine-born Italy international Pablo Osvaldo then doubled Roma's lead by heading in a corner in the 76th for his fifth goal of the season.
In between the scores, Novara midfielder Filippo Porcari hit the post.
"Our approach was better in the second half. After Bojan came on we had another man in the area," Enrique said. "I'm happy for the lads and the fans and also my family, which suffers a little more than me."
The victory moved Roma back into the top half of the table, five points behind Italian league leader Juventus; while Novara remained in the relegation zone.
Juventus leads with 19 points, Udinese and Lazio are next with 18 each, and AC Milan has 17.
On Sunday, Juventus faces a tough test at Napoli, Udinese hosts Siena, Lazio plays Parma and Milan faces Catania at the San Siro.
Earlier, Palermo moved within three points of the lead with a 3-1 win over Bologna.
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BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Levante's memorable start to the Spanish league was dealt another blow when the Spanish minnow lost 2-0 to crosstown Valencia.
Levante had ridden a club record seven-game winning streak to the top of the table for the first time in its 102-year history, but for the second consecutive game it fell without scoring and missed the chance to retake the overnight lead.
"The season is long and although we have lost two straight, I am sure we will get back up and move forward," Levante coach Juan Ignacio Martinez said.
Valencia went ahead in the 31st when winger Jordi Alba forced Levante defender Javi Venta into poking the ball under goalkeeper Gustavo Munua as he rushed into the area to reach a well-placed pass by Tino Costa.
Costa put the result beyond doubt in the 50th.
The defeat left Levante two points behind leader Real Madrid and one point behind both defending champion Barcelona and Valencia.
Madrid plays Osasuna in Sunday's early match before Barcelona visits Athletic Bilbao.
"We won a tough game. Even though it probably wasn't very pretty to watch, it was very intense on the pitch," said Costa, who got a rare start to fill in for midfielder Ever Banega.
Earlier, Sevilla was held to 0-0 at Mallorca, while Malaga drew 0-0 at Real Betis in a lackluster Andalucian derby.
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BERLIN (AP) — Claudio Pizarro scored a hat trick to help Werder Bremen rally to a 3-2 Bundesliga win over Cologne, while defending champion Borussia Dortmund routed Wolfsburg 5-1.
Christian Clemens and Lukas Podolski put Cologne up 2-0 at the half. Pizarro scored after a goalmouth scramble in the 49th, then tied it with a penalty kick five minutes later after Cologne had a player sent off. He sealed the victory in 86th minute.
Dortmund, Bremen and Borussia Moenchengladbach, which won 2-1 at Hertha Berlin, are all two points behind leader Bayern Munich. Bayern plays at relegation-threatened Augsburg on Sunday.
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LILLE, France (AP) — Defending champion Lille missed an opportunity to go level on points with second-place Montpellier as it drew 1-1 with Evian in the French league.
Saber Khalifa outpaced the Lille defense to beat goalkeeper Mickael Landreau and put Evian ahead after four minutes. But Lille midfielder Benoit Pedretti leveled with a long-range free kick in the 63rd that bounced off the post.
Lille remained in third place, five points behind leader Paris Saint-Germain.
Lille looked a bit jaded three days after losing 2-1 to Inter Milan in the Champions League.
On Sunday, it's: Auxerre vs. Toulouse, Caen vs. Dijon, Lorient vs. Ajaccio, Marseille vs. Nice, Nancy vs. Brest, Rennes vs. Valenciennes, Saint-Etienne vs. Montpellier, Sochaux vs. Lyon and Bordeaux vs. PSG.
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GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — Nikica Jelavic had a hat trick to give Rangers a 3-1 win over Dundee United and a 12-point lead at the top of the Scottish Premier League.
Jelavic scored a 19th-minute header from Matt McKay's cross and converted a 63rd-minute penalty kick. Jon Daly got a goal back for Dundee before Jelavic struck his third goal for the defending champions.
Second-place Motherwell plays Celtic on Sunday. Celtic is three points behind Motherwell.
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ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Olympiakos took over first place in the Greek league by beating winless Aris 3-2.
Rafik Djebbour and Francois Modesto scored in the first half and Jean Makoun added a third goal in the second half for visiting Olympiakos. Carlos Toja and Ricky Faty scored for Aris.
Olympiakos has 17 points from seven games. Panathinaikos, which hosts AEK on Sunday and idle Atromitos, are a point behind.
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