LONDON: While Manchester City won 3-1 at West Ham to strengthen its hold on a place in the English Premier League's top four, Newcastle eased back into the top half with a 3-1 win over Liverpool in Alan Pardew's first game as manager Saturday. Yaya Toure put City ahead in the 30th minute before an own-goal by goalkeeper Robert Green and an 80th-minute effort by Adam Johnson. West Ham scored with a minute left but stayed bottom of the standings. Kevin Nolan, Joey Barton and Andy Carroll scored to give Pardew, in his first Premier League match since May 2007, victory just two days after he replaced the fired Chris Hughton. Newcastle moved up to eighth place, ahead of Liverpool on goal difference. Aston Villa beat West Bromwich Albion 2-1 and Blackpool won 1-0 at Stoke. But two weeks after a record-equaling 41 goals over a Premier League weekend, there were just 12 in Saturday's six games. Everton drew 0-0 with Wigan and Fulham drew 0-0 with Sunderland. Tottenham hosts Chelsea Sunday, when Wolverhampton Wanderers host Birmingham and Blackburn is at Bolton. City's win took it level on 32 points with Arsenal, although the leader is at Manchester United in Monday's only game. United is a point back in third but has played two fewer games than City, which is at least guaranteed to finish the round in the Champions League qualifying places. “You don't win anything in December,” City assistant manager Brian Kidd said. “But if we are in the shakeup in March or April, we can start thinking about it. “It is not being flippant, because its a long haul in the Premier League and in the past, we have seen that some teams have flattered to deceive.” Toure had already hit a weak shot straight at Green when he put City ahead, beating Hammers midfielder Jonathan Spector to Gareth Barry's inside pass and smashing a first-time shot high into the net from 15 meters. West Ham was jeered from the field at halftime but improved enough to force City manager Roberto Mancini to substitute striker Mario Balotelli, who walked straight down the tunnel rather than take his place on the bench. Toure's 73rd-minute shot bounced off a post and into the net following a deflection off Green, then Johnson, Balotelli's replacement, wrapped up the win by latching onto Silva's throughball, rounding Green and slotting into an empty net. James Tomkins got a goal back for the Hammers, who are level on 12 points with second-to-bottom Wolverhampton Wanderers but trail on goal difference. Newcastle captain Nolan, recalled to central midfield after two matches out injured, put his team ahead in the 15th minute. Andy Carroll nodded a free kick back across the defensive line about six meters from goal and Nolan tapped it in for his eighth goal of the season. Dirk Kuyt equalized four minutes into the second half but Barton Barton poked the ball past goalkeeper Pepe Reina in the 80th following a long punt by goalkeeper Tim Krul, and Carroll hit his 10th goal of the season with a 25m shot in injury time. Villa moved four points clear of the relegation zone after Stewart Downing, rounding off a sweeping counterattack, and Emile Heskey scored at Villa Park. Paul Scharner got an 89th-minute consolation for West Brom, which has not beaten its local rival for 25 years. D.J. Campbell scored the only goal at Stoke as Blackpool continued its surprisingly good start to the season, but Wigan remained in the relegation zone despite a valuable point at Everton - which was without a win in seven games. “I don't think you get better chances in the Premier League than we did today,” Everton manager David Moyes said. “The longer we didn't take them the more frustrated we got and the more anxiety came into our play and the crowd. We just have to take those chances.”
