ending check by Jannik Hansen. The initial, left side body contac

LONDON -- Manchester City took charge of the Premier League title race as Edin Dzeko and Yaya Toure scored first-half goals to secure a 2-0 win at Crystal Palace on Sunday. A couple of hours after leader Liverpool lost 2-0 against Chelsea at home, City cut its deficit to the Reds to three points with one game in hand. If they win their three remaining matches and keep their superior goal difference, Citys players would be crowned champions. "It was a happy day and it was very important for us," City manager Manuel Pellegrini said. "Before today we were depending on other teams. Now we continue as we were two weeks ago, depending only on what we do. But its not finished, we have to play three games more. We will see in the future who will be the best." City will play at Everton on Saturday and could knock Liverpool off its perch on goal difference before the Reds play at Palace the next Monday. "It was very important not to be thinking about the result of Chelsea vs. Liverpool," Pellegrini said. "We just needed to concentrate on ourselves, and the players did it in a very professional way, knowing that if we beat Crystal Palace we would have our future in our hands." Having recovered from a thigh problem, Toure made a spectacular return to competition in a stellar man of the match display, setting up Dzekos opener in the fourth minute with a precise cross that the striker headed home. The powerful midfielder then started and concluded a superb collective move two minutes before halftime with a curling effort. Toure has scored 19 league goals this season and his return is a massive boost to Citys ambitions. "To be honest, we were looking a little bit at the Liverpool vs. Chelsea game," Toure said. "It was a tricky game but we did well. We have just three games left and we want to focus on winning those." After Liverpools earlier slip-up, City players got off to the best possible start at Selhurst Park as the returning Toure crossed for Dzeko, who jumped between two defenders and headed past Julian Speroni from close range to open the scoring. Undeterred by the goal and having secured their topflight status last weekend, Palace put on an attacking display as Yannick Bolasie created danger on both flanks and Cameron Jerome caused havoc in Citys central defence. Palaces first real chance came in the 18th minute when Jason Puncheon tried his luck from the edge of the box but his effort was too weak for City keeper Joe Hart. Still, Pellegrinis team looked in control and City captain Vincent Kompany had a superb chance to double the title contenders lead a few minutes later but his powerful header from close range from Samir Nasris corner ended just wide. The game toughened up toward the end of the first half and referee Howard Webb had to show yellow cards to Damien Delaney and Pablo Zabaleta before Samir Nasri received treatment following a contact with Puncheon. Toure then turned from provider to scorer two minutes before the interval by finishing off a superb move he initiated on the halfway line. The Ivory Coast international played a one-two with Dzeko then passed the ball to Nasri, with the Frenchman putting it back into his path before Toure imposed his physical strength in the area and slotted home. Palace was on the front foot at the start of the second half, with Hart forced to a dive down to his right to deny Puncheons effort. But Tony Pulis players were too often wasteful with their final pass. Chamakh was among the culprits, ignoring Puncheon on his right before misfiring a long pass toward Bolasie. Jerome then wasted a superb pass from Chamakh in the back of the City defence as he took too much time after a heavy first touch. Toure was applauded by fans from both teams as he was replaced by Fernandinho after 65 minutes while Pulis tried to reinvigorate his team with the introduction of Glenn Murray and Dwight Gayle. The move did not pay off and City kept creating the best chances -- with Sergio Aguero and James Milner combining well down the right flank before Palace keeper Julian Speroni saved Dzekos deflected effort with his leg -- as Palaces record-equaling run of five consecutive Premier League wins was brought to an abrupt end. "I dont think the players played at their maximum today," Pulis said. "And the Chelsea result before the game gave City a massive boost. The players should not worry about that too much." Roberto Firmino Liverpool Jersey . The game had many controversial incidents that, upon closer inspection, were not as controversial as many believed. 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The hard-serving 22-year-old from Thornhill, Ont., became the first Canadian to be ranked in the Top 10 on the ATP World Tour thanks to his runner-up performance at Rogers Cup in Montreal.Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn.ca. Hey Kerry, I dont think you will get many questions about this but I have a question about the Vancouver-Edmonton game from Friday I need some clarification on. In a corner battle, Dan Hamhuis got hit in his face by a stick of Mark Arcobello. My question is why there wasnt a penalty for this? Especially since it was a blatant stick to the face that caused blood! The commentators were saying something along the lines of a follow through on the stick which could change the call but there was no play on the puck! Is there a rule change that I didnt notice and I wanted to know what you would have done in this situation. While playing hockey one thing I learned is to ALWAYS know where your stick is. Great column, love your insight! Jeremy Mowat Penticton, BC Hi Kerry, In Fridays game against the Canucks, Edmontons Mark Arcobello looks like hes trying to play the puck along the boards when Jannik Hansen comes through with a solid bodycheck. As hes hit, the stick comes round and clips Dan Hamhuis right across the nose causing it to bleed severely. For me, this is where I think the referees made the wrong call. The announcers seemed to think that there was no penalty because it was a follow-through when he was trying to play the puck. Personally, I thought it was due to Hansens bodycheck that caused Arcobellos stick to swing round. Now, Ive seen on multiple occasions when a penalty has been assessed to someone high-sticking an opponent as a result of a hit under the reasoning that you must keep in full control of your stick. Arcobellos wild swing doesnt seem to reflect that he had full control of his stick when he clipped Hamhuis and therefore should have been a penalty. Do you believe that the referees made the correct decision, or should Arcobello have be assessed a double-minor for high-sticking? Gareth Richmond, BC --- Jeremy and Gareth: Even though your question opens me up for ongoing persistent abuse from some quarrters, albeit admittedly warranted, I welcome your question and agree with your assessment.dddddddddddd. A double minor penalty to Mark Arcobello of the Edmonton Oilers was warranted when his accidental high-stick caused an injury to Dan Hamhuis. Rule 60.1 states that players must be in control and responsible for their stick. This includes a wild swing at a bouncing puck or when a player is body-checked and as a result of the contact and/or fall any contact to an opponent above the height of the shoulders shall be penalized accordingly. The player guilty of high-sticking is to be assessed a minor penalty; or in the event of injury, a double-minor whether deemed to be accidental or careless. The only exceptions to this rule allows for accidental contact on an opponent if the act is committed as a normal windup or follow through of a shooting motion, or accidental contact on the opposing center who is bent over during the course of a face-off. None of these exceptions applied when Mark Arcobello got to a loose puck below the Vancouver goal line and as the Oiler forward attempted to reverse direction to avoid an impending check by Jannik Hansen. The initial, left side body contact delivered by Hansen separated Arcobello from the puck. Hansen’s back leg and skate then contacted the left leg of Arcobello that took the Oiler off his skates with a twisting body rotation. The airborne flight resulted in a raised stick which cut Hamhuis as he entered the space to provide back door puck support. Even though Arcobello’s high-stick was purely accidental as a result of the check delivered by Hansen, the rule places the onus on the Oiler player to be in control and responsible for his stick. While this might appear to be an unfair application to some, it is as the rule is written and to be applied by the referees. In real time, once the officials conferred, they deemed that the spin action of Mark Arcobello’s body and stick was in a normal follow through attempt to backhand the puck that had been on his stick prior to the check delivered by Jannik Hansen. It can happen in the blink of an eye. ' ' '