Relief for Man City as David Silva gets all clear after injury scare

Silva was taken to hospital for X-rays on cheek and collarbone injuries after he was poleaxed by an elbow from Cheikhou Kouyate.

He needed eight minutes of treatment on the pitch before being carried off with an oxygen mask over his mouth. But just hours after the final whistle he tweeted: “All the tests have gone well and I’m already home.”

Referee Anthony Taylor booked West Ham midfielder Kouyate, but clearly believed his action was unintentional. Sky TV pundits Niall Quinn and Glenn Hoddle, however, believed there was intent and that Kouyate was lucky not to have been sent off.

Pellegrini was unsure but gave the Senegal midfielder the benefit of the doubt. “I hope that it was an accidental collision,” he said. “I always think that a player doesn’t want to damage another player.

“The referee was very near. He decides what happens, he didn’t think it was intentional.”

Hammers’ boss Sam Allardyce denied Kouyate’s action was premeditated, saying: “It was accidental. It was innocuous. I didn’t think it was a foul. I’ve just had a look at the replay now. It wasn’t deliberate at all.”

With skipper Vincent Kompany likely to miss the rest of the season with a groin injury, City can ill afford to be without another of their leading players as they bid to nail down the top-four place that is likely to save Pellegrini’s neck.

Fortunately for City, they were two goals to the good by the time of Silva’s departure midway through the second half and closed the gap on third-placed neighbours United to one point and on second-placed Arsenal to two. More importantly considering their wretched run in 2015, City have a seven-point lead and superior goal difference on fifth-placed Liverpool, who have a game in hand.

Pellegrini admitted before the game that if City fail to secure Champions League qualification he will be sacked. But his insistence that the dressing room is still behind him was backed up by a determined first-half performance.

An own-goal by James Collins followed by a Sergio Aguero strike gave City a comfortable half-time cushion, although they lost their momentum after the shock of Silva’s injury.

In trying to clear Jesus Navas’ cross Collins volleyed the ball into his own net via the underside of the crossbar. Aguero scored his first home goal from open play since November 2 after being set up by Navas in a counter attack started by Yaya Toure intercepting Stewart Downing’s pass.

It was his 20th goal in the league this season, putting him one in front of Diego Costa and level with Harry Kane, who scored for Tottenham yesterday, in the race for the Golden Boot.

Pellegrini said: “It was important to win because we come from two defeats and when one of them is in the derby it is even worse.”

City eased their foot off the gas after Silva’s injury. Enner Valencia and Downing squandered late chances as West Ham rallied in a bid to halt a miserable run of one win in 12 games that means Allardyce perhaps has more to worry about than Pellegrini.

Allardyce was unhappy that individual errors by Collins and Downing gifted City their goals.

“One mistake was pretty bizarre and the other unexpected from a player as experienced as Stewart,” he said.

Man City (4-2-3-1): Hart 7; Zabaleta 7, Demichelis 6, Mangala 7, Kolarov 7; Fernando 7, Toure 7; Navas 8, Lampard 7 (Fernandinho 88), Silva 7 (Nasri 75, 5); Aguero 7 (Dzeko 90). Booked: Navas, Silva. Goals: Collins 18 og, Aguero 36. NEXT UP: Aston Villa (h), Sat PL.

West Ham (4-4-2): Adrian 6; Jenkinson 6, Reid 6, Collins 6, Cresswell 5; Downing 5, Noble 6, Song 5 (Jarvis 66, 5), Kouyate 5; Cole 6 (Nolan 66, 7), Valencia 6. Booked: Kouyate, Downing. NEXT UP: QPR (a), Sat PL.

Referee: A Taylor (Lancs).