Manchester City 2-1 West Ham United

Nigel De Jong scores his first goal for Man City, who close in on fourth spot with a hard-earned win over bottom club West Ham.

The win puts City seven points ahead of fifth-placed Liverpool with a game in hand but it is a different tale for Avram Grant's West Ham side who have just three games left to try and secure Premier League survival.
The Citizens made a bright start to the game and Dutch dynamo De Jong opened the scoring after ten minutes, driving a 25-yard strike past Rob Green after the Hammers had headed clear from a corner.
Things went from bad to worse for the visitors when Pablo Zabaleta doubled the scoreline just five minutes later. The full-back's low strike was turned into his own net by Lars Jacobsen, but the goal will be awarded to the City defender whose initial shot was destined for the bottom corner.
City went on to dominate up until the half hour mark when the visitors found a foothold in the game. Robbie Keane missed a chance to reduce the deficit when he hit a shot straight at Joe Hart from a one-on-one opportunity but Demba Ba made amends immediately afterwards. A fine advantage from Howard Webb after Keane's flick-on hit the hand of Joleon Lescott allowed Ba to steer home from close range and give the East Londoners a glimmer of hope at half-time.
Champions League-bound City were riddled with errors in the second-half and their carelessness in possession allowed West Ham room to get back into the game. Demba Ba looked the main threat but it was Manuel Da Costa who came closest to drawing the visitors level when his header from Thomas Hitzlsperger's free-kick forced a decent stop out of Hart.
Mario Balotelli, who was preferred to Monday night's hero Edin Dzeko, came close to sealing the win on two occasions for City. The Italian forward saw a shot come back off the crossbar just before the hour mark while heroic defending from James Tomkins blocked his later effort on the line.
David Silva also came close for City on a couple of occasions but two goals were enough in the end, though the home fans would have liked to have beaten the Premier League's bottom side much more comfortably.