Manchester City missed the chance to go within two points of Premier League leaders Manchester United as they were held 0-0 at bottom side Queens Park Rangers tonight.
City were looking to pile the pressure on United ahead of their game against Southampton on Wednesday, but the champions could not find a way through at Loftus Road. Pablo Zabaleta, who scored in the FA Cup fourth round at the weekend, went closest but his first-half header struck the bar.
Harry Redknapp has done a good job turning QPR around, and they are now undefeated in their last four league games. But three of those results have been draws, and Harry needs to turn them into wins if QPR are to get out of this relegation battle.
Newcastle United meanwhile, eased their own relegation worries thanks to a 2-1 win at fellow strugglers Aston Villa. Newcastle took a two-goal first-half lead through Papiss Cissé and Yohan Cabaye. While Christian Benteke pulled one back from the penalty spot after the interval, Villa had the look of a side that knows it is going down. Knocked out of the cups in the last week by two clubs from lower divisions, and without a league victory since mid-December, Villa don’t look capable of getting out of the bottom three.
Wigan Athletic jumped out of the bottom three as they came from two down to draw 2-2 at Stoke City.
Stoke looked firmly on course for the first Premier League win in five matches when Ryan Shawcross volleyed them ahead in the 23rd minute before Peter Crouch doubled their lead after Charlie Adam’s strike had been parried by Latics goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi shortly after half-time.
But Wigan showed their battling qualities and halved the deficit almost immediately when McArthur coolly finished after running through on goal before Di Santo secured a well-earned point when he rifled into the net from McArthur’s knockdown.
Sunderland transfer target Danny Graham almost gave visiting Swansea all three points in their clash at the Stadium of Light but the two teams had to settle for a goalless draw. Graham, a 74th-minute substitute, looked set to fire home from point-blank range but Titus Bramble’s valiant interception saved a point for the hosts.
