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36 LIVERPOOL'S slim hopes of finishing in the top four suffered a significant setback as they were held to a goalless draw at West Bromwich Albion. Manchester City made hard work of securing three points in the Premier League yesterday as they beat FA Cup finalists Aston Villa 3-2. Sergio Aguero gave City the lead on three minutes after a horrible mistake by Villa goalkeeper Brad Guzan. And Manuel Pellegrini's side looked comfortable when they doubled their lead in the second half, Aleksandar Kolarov curling in a free kick. However, Tom Cleverley pulled a goal back just two minutes later be- fore Carlos Sanchez pounced on an unconvincing punch by goalkeeper Joe Hart to make it 2-2. But 60 seconds later City were back in front as Fernandinho rifled in to se- cure three points and propel the side into second place, a point above Arse- nal who have two games in hand. Liverpool's slim hopes of finishing in the top four suffered a significant setback as they were held to a goalless draw at West Bromwich Albion. Steven Gerrard was included in the starting XI as he made his 500th Pre- mier League appearance, while Mario Balotelli was given a rare chance in the Liverpool attack, but Brendan Rodgers' side struggled to create any chances during a dreary first half. The visitors showed some improve- ment in the second half, with Jordan Henderson passing up a good op- portunity while Jordon Ibe hit the woodwork, but ultimately they came away from The Hawthorns with a point that will do little to bolster their chances of returning to the Champi- ons League. Tottenham remain one point ahead of Southampton after twice coming from behind to draw 2-2 at South- ampton. Southampton took the lead on 29 minutes when Ryan Mason slipped in possession and Ben Davies dallied, al- lowing Graziano Pelle to steal in and poke the ball home. However, Spurs were level at the break, with Erik Lamela diverting an Eric Dier cross past Kelvin Davis in the 43rd minute, seemingly with the use of his arm. Pelle restored Saints' lead with his second of the game on 65 minutes when he rose to head home a Shane Long cross, but the lead did not last long, with Dier playing in Nacer Chadli to equalise on 70 minutes. The result does little to advance ei- ther team's faint chances of finishing in the top four but both remain very much in contention for next season's Europa League. In-form Leicester continued their resurgence with a 1-0 victory at Burnley. Burnley won a penalty just before the hour mark when Matthew Taylor was tripped, but his spot kick came back off the post, and Sean Dyche's men were punished instantly. Marc Albrighton's cross took a de- flection from Michael Duff and, after Tom Heaton's attempt to rescue it, Jamie Vardy was on hand to nudge it home to ensure a fourth straight win for the Foxes. That proved decisive as Leicester moved one point clear of the relega- tion zone, with Sunderland dropping down into 18th after they were held to a 1-1 draw at Stoke. Sunderland were in front within the opening few seconds when Connor Wickham pounced on an error by Potters goalkeeper Asmir Begovic. Stoke deservedly equalised in the 27th minute as Charlie Adam contin- ued his recent goalscoring heroics by cracking home an unstoppable shot, moments after Jermain Defoe had spurned a fine chance for the visitors. There were decent opportunities for either side to win the match after the break, but it finished with honours even, with Costel Pantilimon diving to keep out another Adam strike at the end. Dame N'Doye's second-half brace handed Hull hope of avoiding the drop as they won 2-0 at Crystal Pal- ace. Misfiring striker N'Doye wasted several chances before first tapping in from two yards, then blasting home at the end as Hull claimed their first win in seven matches. Victory ensured Hull stay above the drop zone, but in no way eases their relegation fears, with Liverpool, Ar- senal, Tottenham and Manchester United still ahead. John Carver's problems took a turn for the worse as Swansea beat New- castle 3-2, condemning the Magpies to a club-record seventh successive Premier League defeat. Newcastle, who started the day just seven points clear of the relegation zone, went into first-half stoppage time leading through Ayoze Perez's 20th-minute strike, but surrendered their advantage before they returned to the dressing room when striker Nelson Oliveira took advantage of weak defending to head home, and capitulated within five minutes of the restart as Gylfi Sigurdsson gave the visitors the lead. Jack Cork put the Swans further ahead 19 minutes from time and, although Siem de Jong marked his return from an eight-month injury nightmare with an 88th-minute goal, he could not prevent his side from slipping to a 3-2 loss. Charlie Austin missed a first-half penalty as QPR's survival hopes were left hanging by a thread after they were held to a goalles draw by West Ham. Both teams had chances to take all three points at Loftus Road but the best fell to Austin when James Col- lins handled in the area but the strik- er's spot kick was saved by Adrian's legs. Richard Dunne also had a header ruled out in the second period as Rangers remained 19th in the ta- ble and slipped four points adrift of safety. Sport maltatoday, SUNDAY, 26 APRIL 2015 FOOTBALL Manchester City move to second; Liverpool held by West Brom Fernandinho of Manchester City celebrates his winning goal Inter defeat Roma as Udinese add more misery to Milan UDINESE delivered a potential- ly knockout blow to AC Milan's hopes of playing in Europe next season by beating the Rossoneri 2-1 on Saturday evening. Giampiero Pinzi and Emmanuel Badu turned Udinese's superior- it y into goals in the second half to earn the Bianconeri their first win in six, and send Filippo Inza- ghi 's men tumbling to their first defeat since March 16. Giampaolo Pazzini grabbed a late consolation, but it was not enough to prevent a loss which could see Milan's deficit on Serie A's top five grow to 10 points on Sunday with six games of the sea- son remaining. In the night's other game, Inter Milan moved back into the hunt for a place in Europe next sea- son and dented Roma's Cham- pions League hopes with a 2-1 win at the San Siro on Saturday evening. Mauro Icardi 's 17th goal of the season - in the 88th minute - proved decisive for the Neraz- zurri, after Radja Nainggolan had got the Eternal Cit y outfit back on level terms following Hern- anes' 15th-minute opener. The victory took Inter ahead of cit y rivals AC Milan and with- in four points of sixth-placed Fiorentina, who host Cagliari on Sunday. Hernanes (C) celebrates Inter's victory over Roma