Pellegrini salutes 'professional' City

Manuel Pellegrini hailed the professionalism of his Manchester City squad after it maintained its English Premier League title challenge with victory at Hull City on Saturday - despite playing with 10 men for 80 minutes.

City's 2-0 win at KC Stadium, combined with Chelsea's later 1-0 loss at Aston Villa, cut the London club's lead at the top to six points.

Liverpool and Arsenal could move above City into second place and cut Chelsea's lead to four points with wins on Sunday, but the three games Pellegrini's team holds in hand mean it will take the title if it keeps winning.