Man City kept the pressure on unbeaten Man United with a 2-0 victory over Everton while Fernando Torres scored before being sent off in third-place Chelsea's 4-1 thrashing of Swansea in the Premier League on Saturday City required second-half goals by substitutes Mario Balotelli and James Milner to beat Everton 2-0, meaning United had to avoid defeat at Stoke later Saturday to stay top of the table. Torres set Chelsea on its way to victory with the opener at Stamford Bridge in the 29th but was given a straight red card for a reckless lunge on Mark Gower in the 39th, three minutes after Brazil midfielder Ramires made it 2-0. Chelsea was still too strong for the promoted Welsh club, with Ramires and substitute Didier Drogba adding further goals in a victory that kept the hosts three points behind City. Senegal striker Demba Ba grabbed a hat trick for Newcastle in a 3-1 home win over Blackburn, consolidating fourth position for the in-form northeast club, while Liverpool beat Wolverhampton 2-1 at Anfield for a first win in three league games and Tottenham beat Wigan 2-1 away. Netherlands striker Robin van Persie scored twice for Arsenal—his second the 100th for the club—in a 3-0 victory over Bolton, easing the pressure on under-fire manager Arsene Wenger. Bolton had center back David Wheater sent off in the 55th for a tug on Theo Walcott, becoming the fourth player to receive a red card on Saturday after Torres, Wigan's Steve Gohouri and Blackburn's Martin Olsson. In the day's other match, Fulham held West Bromwich Albion to a 0-0 draw in a game between two of the division's bottom four. City's victory ended a run of four straight home defeats to Everton, which has been a bogey team for Roberto Mancini's side in recent years and proved a stubborn opponent in the opening 68 minutes. “We never have an easy game against Everton,” City captain Vincent Kompany said. “But with the quality we have, it was just a matter of patience.” Summoned from the bench ahead of fellow substitute Carlos Tevez, Balotelli made an instant impact after replacing Edin Dzeko as he latched onto Sergio Aguero's layoff and found the bottom corner via a deflection. Milner wrapped up a fifth win in six matches for City by surging on to a sublime through ball by David Silva and shooting low past Tim Howard in the 89th. It was a bittersweet afternoon for Torres, who scored for the second straight weekend but was ejected for a diving, two-footed tackle which earned his first red card in England. Chelsea coped admirably in the Spain striker's absence and Ramires—who had scored the team's second following a swift counterattack—doubled his tally in the 76th from Jose Bosingwa's pass. Ashley Williams headed in a late consolation for Swansea while Drogba got his first goal of the season deep into injury time. Newcastle, which is a point behind Chelsea, is one of four undefeated teams left in the league after Ba opened his account in the 27th and added further goals with headers in the 30th and 54th. Canadian forward Junior Hoilett halved the deficit in the 37th for Blackburn, which had Sweden left back Martin Olsson dismissed in the 69th for his second yellow card. Liverpool had lost its last two league matches but returned to winning ways thanks to Roger Johnson's own goal in the 11th and Uruguay striker Luis Suarez's impressive strike in the 38th. Steven Fletcher pulled one back early in the second half for Wolves, with Steven Gerrard playing the last nine minutes for Liverpool in his first Premier League match since March. Alex Song scored Arsenal's other goal at Emirates Stadium but the win was soured somewhat by a late injury to Walcott, with Wenger saying the winger hurt his knee. It was only the hosts' second league win this season, lifting the team provisionally to 12th.
