Associated Press Sports
updated 11:39 a.m. ET Nov. 11, 2012
MANCHESTER, England (AP) -Edin Dzeko completed Manchester City's comeback against Tottenham on Sunday, with the substitute's late goal clinching a 2-1 win that keeps the pressure on Premier League leader Manchester United.
Dzeko's seventh goal of the season, six of which have come from the bench, came after Sergio Aguero had cancelled out Steven Caulker's first-half header for Tottenham.
"Again from a free kick we conceded a goal ... we have to improve there," Dzeko said. "But after the goal we were the better team for the 90 minutes and in the end we deserved it.
"Even when we are losing, we come back. I hope next time we (are) winning 1-0 and then go on and win the game. This is much harder to play."
Defending champion City is just 2 points behind neighbor United after extending its unbeaten home Premier League record to 35 matches, and its present unbeaten league run to 16.
But City is conceding goals that would have been unimaginable this time last year.
A straightforward free kick delivered from the touchline by Tom Huddlestone found Caulker, who had been given too much room to make his run. The header should still have been stopped. This time, goalkeeper Joe Hart, so often City's savior, only managed to shovel it into the net in the 21st minute.
This might not have been so bad if City had been awarded at least one of the two penalties the team thought should have come its way before the break.
William Gallas was the first offender. And whilst he did block Aguero's flick, his arm was extended in a manner that often results in an infringement. On the second occasion, Pablo Zabaleta was bulldozed over by Huddlestone. Referee Michael Oliver declined both appeals from City.
For Tottenham, Emmanuel Adebayor, starting his first game of the season against his old club, was an irritation more than anything else, luring Zabaleta into a tackle he appeared to dive over, getting his one-time teammate a booking.
The introduction of Maicon for his belated home debut offered an extra twist given it put him up against Gareth Bale, who humiliated the Brazil defender during his Inter Milan days.
It also triggered a return to the much-derided three-man defense for City, but Mancini's rejig worked.
On a day when little seemed to be going right for the hosts, they profited from a couple of fortunate bounces, allowing Yaya Toure to get on the end of Silva's pass, then Aguero to collect possession inside the Spurs box.
Caulker got a quick lesson in how swiftly the Argentinian can turn as he found himself heading in completely the wrong direction as Aguero dispatched his precise shot into the bottom corner in the 65th.
From that moment on, there seemed only one likely winner.
Silva was denied by Tottenham goalkeeper Brad Friedel's flying feet-first save before the American denied Aguero.
Spurs were creaking though. And when Silva found Dzeko in the box in the 88th, the Bosnian kept his nerve to accurately swing out with his left foot and complete another memorable comeback.
? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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