City 4-9 for title after dramatic Balotelli winner

MANCHESTER again ruled the roost over north London on Sunday as City and United went a long way to extinguishing Tottenham’s title hopes.

Harry Redknapp’s side again showed their class by fighting back from
2-0 down at the Etihad Stadium, but a last-gasp penalty from Mario
Balotelli gave City a thrilling 3-2 win and they were cut into 4-9 for
the title. And United responded in tremendous fashion as they won
2-1 at Arsenal with a late winner from Danny Welbeck.

At the start of the day bookmakers had felt United had the tougher task, making them 13-8 to win at the Emirates compared to 10-11 City, but both clubs were given a similar cut in the title market with City 4-9 from 1-2 and United 9-4 from 5-2.

City's clash with Tottenham had sparked into life early in the second
half with four goals in nine minutes as Samir Nasri, who had been a
9-1 shot to score first, and Joleon Lescott put City in charge before
Jermain Defoe and Gareth Bale hit back for Tottenham.

But Defoe missed a great chance in stoppage time for Spurs, who
immediately saw City nick the points as Balotelli was fouled by Ledley
King and calmly scored the resulting penalty.

Balotelli was lucky to be on the pitch after escaping punishment for
an apparent stamp on Scott Parker and the controversial Italian is 7-2 with Hills to receive two or more red cards this season to add to the one he received at Liverpool in November.

United took a similar path to victory at the Emirates as Welbeck
restored their advantage after Robin van Persie had cancelled out a
first-half strike from Antonio Valencia, who had been 16-1 to notch
the opener.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s side are now five points clear of Tottenham in
second, though Spurs had the consolation of Arsenal’s defeat cementing their top-four status as they still lead the fifth-placed Gunners by ten points.
Tottenham are 1-6 to claim one of the Champions League berths and are most likely to be joined by 4-9 shots Chelsea, while Arsenal have been pushed out to 5-2. And though Spurs are out to
22-1 to turn things around this season, their fast-improving team is
rated just 12-1 by bet365 to claim the title next season.