LONDON - Manchester City survived the 10th-minute dismissal of captain Vincent Kompany to win 2-0 at Hull City on Saturday and reduce Chelsea's lead in the Premier League to six points. Kompany saw red for a last-man foul on Nikica Jelavic, but David Silva put City ahead with a glorious curling effort just four minutes later and Edin Dzeko made sure of victory at the death.
It was City's first league match for three weeks and they still have two games in hand on Chelsea, although the leaders can reassert their nine-point advantage with victory at Aston Villa later on Saturday. City's success at the KC Stadium also saw them climb to second place above Liverpool, who visit Manchester United on Sunday, and Arsenal, who travel to Tottenham Hotspur later the same day.
"We needed to win today and playing with one player less for 80 minutes is very difficult, but I think we did a very good performance," said City manager Manuel Pellegrini, who saw his side eliminated from both the FA Cup and the Champions League earlier this week. "We defended well with and without the ball, but we also attacked a lot. It was a very professional response from the players." City were missing top scorer Sergio Aguero due to injury and they received a further setback in the 10th minute when Kompany was given his marching orders. Jelavic appeared to foul Kompany as they jostled for possession, but play was allowed to continue and when the City captain hauled the Croatian down, referee Lee Mason immediately brandished the red card. Kompany kicked out at a door in frustration as he stalked down the tunnel, but City reacted in stirring fashion, with Silva gathering a pass from Yaya Toure and arcing a beautiful shot inside the left-hand post from 25 yards. Visiting right-back Pablo Zabaleta then saw a tremendous volley hit the bar and bounce on the goal-line, but Hull finished the first half strongly.
Jelavic had earlier put a volley wide from an Ahmed Elmohamady cross and after David Meyler had seen a goal ruled out for offside, Jake Livermore drilled a shot just off-target from long range. Joe Hart saved from Shane Long, twice, and Jelavic early in the second period, while substitute George Boyd had a penalty appeal turned down after tumbling over a challenge by the City goalkeeper. Fernandinho spurned a gilt-edged chance to double City's lead when he scuffed wide from only 10 yards, but Hart saved from Boyd and Jelavic to preserve the visitors' advantage. Hull goalkeeper Allan McGregor prevented Dzeko from putting the game to bed in the closing stages, but the Bosnian atoned in the last minute by sweeping home from Silva's incisive pass. Kompany expressed his pride -- and perhaps relief -- via Twitter.

RESULTS

Manchester City    2
Hull    0
Fulham    1
Newcastle    0
Everton    2
Cardiff    1
Southampton    4
Norwich    2
Stoke    3
West Ham    1
West Brom    2
Swansea    1
Sunderland    0
Crystal Palace    0

POINT TABLE

Club    M    P    D    L    GF    GA    Pts
Chelsea    29    20    6    3    56    22    66
Man City    27    19    3    5    71    27    60
Liverpool    28    18    5    5    73    35    59
Arsenal    28    18    5    5    52    28    59
Tottenham    29    16    5    8    37    37    53
Everton    28    14    9    5    40    28    51
Man United    28    14    6    8    46    31    48
Southampton    30    12    9    9    43    37    45
Newcastle    29    13    4    12    37    40    43
Stoke    30    8    10    12    32    44    34
West Ham    29    8    7    14    32    38    31
Aston Villa    28    8    7    13    31    38    31
Hull    29    8    6    15    30    37    30
Swansea    29    7    8    14    38    43    29
Norwich    30    7    8    15    24    48    29
West Brom    29    5    13    11    33    43    28
Crystal Palace    29    8    4    17    19    38    28
Sunderland    27    6    7    14    26    42    25
Cardiff    30    6    7    17    23    52    25
Fulham    30    7    3    20    30    65    24