Soccer

Arsenal and Man City bounce back from European defeats

Olivier Giroud grabs two for Gunners while Yaya Toure hits winner for City

Manchester City’s Yaya Toure scores past Stoke City goalkeeper Asmir Begovic during the Premier League match at the Etihad Stadium. Photograph: Martin Rickett/PA
Sat Feb 22 2014 - 17:34

Premier League round-up: Arsenal, fresh from being beaten by reigning European champions Bayern Munich, cruised to a 4-1 victory over Sunderland that took them back to within a point of Chelsea at the top of the table.

The game was all but over by half-time with Olivier Giroud netting twice before Tomas Rosicky made it 3-0 in the 42nd minute.

Arsene Wenger's men did not stop there and Laurent Koscielny added a fourth before third-bottom Sunderland pulled a late consolation back through Emanuele Giaccherini.

Manchester City , however, did not have it nearly as comfortable against their former manager Mark Hughes's Stoke .

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Looking to bounce back from their European loss to Barcelona, Manuel Pellegrini's men were frustrated during a goalless first half and were indebted to a 70th-minute strike from Yaya Toure – his 13th league goal of the season – to get the 1-0 win.

City, who play Sunderland in the Capital One Cup final next weekend, remain two points behind Arsenal but have a game in hand.

At the other end of the table, Fulham came within four minutes of a much-needed victory in new manager Felix Magath's first game in charge, only to have to settle for a 1-1 draw at fellow strugglers West Brom .

The Cottagers looked set to climb off the foot of the table after taking a 28th-minute lead through Ashkan Dejagah but they were denied a first victory in eight league and cup games by an 86th-minute equaliser from Matej Vydra.

That goal kept Fulham in last place but they are now only a point behind Cardiff after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men were thrashed 4-0 at home by Hull .

Nikica Jelavic notched twice for Steve Bruce's side, between goals from Tom Huddlestone and Jake Livermore, as Hull moved six points clear of 18th-placed Sunderland .

In the other mid-afternoon kick-off, upwardly-mobile West Ham continued their impressive recent form with 3-1 a home win over Southampton .

Visiting Southampton took an eighth-minute lead through Maya Yoshida but West Ham replied with goals from Matt Jarvis, Carlton Cole and Kevin Nolan to secure their fourth successive win.