Premier League review: Roberto Mancini famously said Carlos Tevez would never play under his watch again but he'll be glad this evening he backed down on that, after the Argentine came off the bench to assist Samir Nasri's 85th winner against Chelsea.
After six-months out that followed his refusal to take the field from the bench against Bayern Munich, Tevez was introduced 24 minutes from time and the South American helped win the corner that led to Aguero's equaliser from the penalty spot. He was then on hand to provide a sublime return pass for Nasri's winner that reduced Manchester United's lead at the top of the Premier League to a point.
Defender Gary Cahill’s opened the scoring on the hour when his shot was deflected past Joe Hart.
"I am really happy for him (Tevez)," Nasri told Sky Sports 1. "He has showed great spirit and today showed he can be really important until the end of the season.
“It’s good that it was him who gave him the assist.”
Mancini was also pleased with Tevez's cameo and paid tribute to his side's determination to win the game.
“I’m happy, because he did well,” said hte Italian. “Also he’s not in good form, I don’t think he’s fit 100%, but that’s football. I think we deserved to win because we had three or four chances in the first 20 minutes.
“When they (Chelsea) scored I think we didn’t deserve to go behind. But we wanted, we desired to win this game.”
City defender Micah Richards admitted the victory was a huge result in their battle with city rivals United for the title.
“It’s a massive result for us," he said. "After we went 1-0 down heads could have dropped, but we kept on going and managed to get three points. We did have to win tonight, we gave everything and showed good character.
“The lads will be delighted with that.”
Arsenal leapfrogged Tottenham to go third in the table after Thomas Vermaelen's early goal earned the Gunners all three points at Everton while Spurs could only draw at home to Stoke.
Indeed, Tottenham needed an injury-time Rafael van der Vaart just to pick up a 1-1 draw at White Hart Lane.
The home side dominated proceedings without working Asmir Begovic enough, and were stunned when Cameron Jerome prodded home Jermaine Pennant's free-kick on 75 minutes.
Spurs redoubled their attacking efforts and at least ended a run of three straight league defeats when van der Vaart scored from Gareth Bale's pinpoint centre.
Arsenal, who trailed Spurs by 10 points just four games ago, now lead their north London rivals by a point, but were fortunate to see a Royston Drenthe goal incorrectly ruled out for offside.
The most astonishing result came at Loftus Road, where QPR came from 2-0 down in 13 minutes to beat Liverpool 3-2. The Reds looked to be crusing after second half goals from Sebastian Coates and Dirk Kuyt on his 200th appearance. But Shaun Derry's header gave the homeside hope and former LIverpool striker Djibril Cisse nodded the equaliser.
A mix-up at the back between Martin Skrtel and Jose Enrique gave Jamie Mackie a sight of goal deep into injury time and he beat Pepe Reina for an unlikely win.
