City crush Sunderland to climb to third

Zamora brace fires Fulham ahead in Premier League.

LONDON:

Manchester City moved into third place in the Premier League with a 5-0 demolition of Sunderland at Eastlands.

Roberto Mancini’s side killed off the Black Cats with goals from Adam Johnson and Carlos Tevez in the first 15 minutes before David Silva, Patrick Vieira and Yaya Toure netted in the second-half.

City’s biggest league win of the season lifted them one point ahead of fourth placed Chelsea and six in front of Tottenham in fifth spot, leaving Mancini’s men in good shape in the race to qualify for next season’s Champions League.

In stark contrast, mid-table Sunderland have now lost six of their last seven matches.

Zamora double downs Blackpool

Fulham forward Bobby Zamora plunged Blackpool further into the relegation mire as his double-strike inspired a 3-0 win at Craven Cottage.

Zamora scored twice in the space of five minutes midway through the first half and Dickson Etuhu struck after the interval to lift Fulham into mid-table and leave Blackpool just one point and one place above the relegation zone with seven games to play.

Fulham Chairman Moham-edal Fayed stole the show before kick-off as he unveiled a statue of pop legend Michael Jackson outside his club’s stadium. However, Cottagers’ fans felt the statue of the deceased singer did not belong at their ground.

Fulham’s supporters soon had other things to occupy their minds as Mark Hughes’s team romped to an emphatic victory.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 4^th,  2011.