Manchester City climbed up to eighth in the Premier League after a 3-1 victory over Blackburn Rovers at Eastlands.
The win was City’s third in a row and, following Fulham’s 3-1 defeat at Chelsea, would have moved into seventh in the league. However, West Ham’s 1-0 win at Stoke allowed the Hammers to move into the last Europa league slot.
Blackburn started brightly but it was City who scored first, Felipe Caicedo scoring after Rovers failed to clear an Elano corner. The blues doubled their lead as another corner came over and Robinho was on hand to score his third goal in as many games and City threatened to run riot when Elano tucked away a penalty after the referee adjudged Gael Givet to have handled.
Blackburn had a penalty of their own in the second half and, although Shay Given saved the spot kick and the rebound, Keith Andrews was on hand to bundle the ball home. Blackburn tried fight their way back into the game, but City had the points safely in the bag.
Along with City and West Ham, Fulham are also in contention for the coveted seventh place along with Spurs, who beat West Brom 1-0 at White Hart Lane. City play Spurs in two weeks, following a fairly routine game at Old Trafford, where the City faithful will expect nothing but three points against their bitter rivals