Man City routs Tottenham 5-1, takes EPL lead
LONDON (AP) — High-scoring Manchester City moved into the Premier League lead, scoring four times in the second half to rout Tottenham 5-1 Wednesday night.
Sergio Aguero scored in the 15th minute, then left at the start of the second half. Yaya Toure converted a penalty kick in the 51st and Edin Dzeko made it 3-0 two minutes later.
Etienne Capoue got Spurs' goal in the 59th, and City pulled away when Stevan Jovetic scored in the 78th and Vincent Kompany in the 89th.
City (17-4-2) moved one point ahead of Arsenal (16-3-4) and three in front of Chelsea (15-3-5), which was held to a 0-0 tie at home by West Ham. City has 68 goals in the league this season with 15 games remaining, two goals more than it scored in all of last season.'
"There is still no silverware. A lot of games are to be played," said Kompany, City's captain. "We'll stay calm."
The extent of Aguero's injury was not revealed.
"We will see tomorrow with the doctor what happened with him, maybe he has a problem with his hamstring, we will see how serious it is," City manager Manuel Pellegrini said. "Sergio is a top player but we don't depend on just one player, so we hope it's the moment where Stevan Jovetic can play and hope that Sergio can join us again as soon as possible."
Tottenham's Michael Dawson put the ball in the net just before halftime, but the goal was disallowed for offside. City finished with a man advantage after Danny Rose was given a red card in the 50th for a sliding tackle on Edin Dzeko in the penalty area.
Tottenham (13-6-4) had been 5-0-1 in the league since Tim Sherwood replaced Andre Villas-Boas as manager on Dec. 16.
Aston Villa and U.S. goalkeeper Brad Guzan defeated West Brom 4-3, and Adam Johnson scored in the first half to give Sunderland a 1-0 win over Stoke and lift his team out of the relegation zone for the first time since August. American forward Jozy Altidore drew three yellow cards, including one for that got Stoke's Steven Nzonzi ejected for a second yellow in the 53rd minute.
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MADRID (AP) — Barcelona captain Carles Puyol scored his 17th career goal in a 5-1 win over Levante that gained a berth in the Copa del Rey semifinals on 9-2 aggregate.
Alexis Sanchez scored twice, and Adriano and Cesc Fabregas also scored for Barcelona, which fell behind when Loukas Vyntra scored on a header that deflected off Barcelona's Sergio Roberto. Puyol's goal was his first since Jan. 16 last year against Malaga in the Copa del Rey.
Barcelona will play a semifinal against Real Sociedad or third-tier Racing Santander, which trails 3-1 from a first-leg loss on the road.
Atletico Madrid will play crosstown rival Real Madrid in the other semifinal after rallying for a 2-1 win at Athletic Bilbao and a 3-1 aggregate victory.
Bilbao, which had not lost in 12 games at its new San Mames Stadium, went ahead on Aritz Aduriz's goal in the 42nd minute. Raul Garcia tied the score in the 54th and Diego Costa scored on a breakaway in the 86th.
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BERLIN (AP) — Thiago Alcantara scored with a scissor kick in injury time, giving Bayern Munich a 2-1 win over Stuggart that opened a 13-point lead in the Bundesliga.
Thiago launched himself at Rafinha's cross to volley the ball inside the far corner from a difficult angle in the third minute of stoppage time.
Vedad Ibisevic put the hosts ahead in the 29th but Bayern substitute Claudio Pizarro tied the score with a header on Thiago's free kick in the 76th minute.
Bayern Munich (16-0-2) extended its league unbeaten streak to 43 games. Bayer Leverkusen (12-5-1) is second.
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ROME (AP) — Gonzalo Higuain scored in the 82nd minute, and Napoli beat defending champion Lazio 1-0 to advance to an Italian Cup semifinal against Roma.
Udinese will face Fiorentina in the other two-leg semifinal, scheduled for Feb. 4-5 and 11-12. The final is May 3.
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PARIS (AP) — Andre-Pierre Gignac scored his 10th goal in the past nine games, helping Marseille beat struggling Valenciennes 2-1 to move up to fifth place in the French league.
Gignac put Marseille ahead in the 32nd minute, picking up weak backpass by defender Eloge Yamissi and rounding goalkeeper Nicolas Penneteau for his 16th goal of the season in all competitions.
Arthur Masuaka tied the score in the 38th, and Florian Thauvin got the go-ahead goal in the 63rd.
