9 Apr 2012

City defeat leaves Manchester United on brink of title

7:12 am on 9 April 2012

Manchester United put more distance between themselves and rivals Manchester City in the Premier League title race by beating Queens Park Rangers 2-nil while City, who had Mario Balotelli sent off, crashed to a 1-nil defeat at Arsenal this morning.

With only six matches to play United, who trailed City for most of the season until going top a month ago, have 79 points while their faltering Manchester neighbours have 71.

Arsenal, whose winning goal from Mikel Arteta came after 87 minutes, are third on 61 points, two ahead of arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur who drew nil-all at Sunderland on Saturday.

City manager Roberto Mancini refused to concede the title race was over for his second-placed team, saying it was still mathematically possible but admitted it would be difficult.

United won at Old Trafford thanks to a dubious 15th-minute penalty from Wayne Rooney and a trademark 68th-minute long-range shot by Paul Scholes.