Toure puts City within sight of title

LONDON (AP) ― Manchester City put itself on course to win its first English championship since 1968 by beating host Newcastle 2-0 Sunday behind two goals by Yaya Toure.

Manchester United defeated Swansea 2-0 on first-half goals by Paul Scholes and Ashley Young. The win pulled the defending champions even on points with Manchester City, but with a significantly inferior goal difference.

City almost certainly will win the Premier League if it defeats struggling Queens Park Rangers in its final match next weekend. United is at Sunderland next Sunday.

“It’s not finished,” Toure said. “We have one game left and we have to be careful as QPR are fighting to stay in the Premier League. We have to continue to work hard and believe. This is brilliant for us, though.”

Toure exchanged passes with Sergio Aguero on the edge of the penalty area in the 70th minute before curling a right-footed shot past diving goalkeeper Tim Krul. The Ivory Coast midfielder scored again with a minute left as City exploited space left by Newcastle as it tried to even the score.

The result damaged Newcastle’s hopes of finishing fourth and qualifying for the Champions League. Fourth-place Tottenham drew 1-1 draw against Aston Villa. U.S. star Clint Dempsey scored his 50th Premier League goal to help Fulham down Sunderland 2-1. This was Dempsey’s 17th Premier League goal this season and 23rd overall.

Italy

Juventus won its 28th Serie A title and first in nine years after beating Cagliari 2-0 to stay unbeaten and second-place AC Milan lost 4-2 to Inter Milan in the next-to-last round of the season.

It is Juventus’ first league championship since 2003, after its two titles since then were revoked because of match-fixing. The team is four points ahead of Milan.

Mirko Vucinic gave Juventus the lead in the sixth minute and an own goal by Michele Canini sealed the result.

Defending champion Milan had the chance to take the title race to the last round of the season, but a hat trick by Diego Milito ― including two penalty kicks ― and a stunning goal by Maicon gave Inter victory.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored twice for Milan.

Netherlands

Feyenoord earned a Champions League berth after downing SC Heerenveen 3-1 in the final round of the Dutch league.

Otman Bakkal, Sekou Cisse and Elvis Manu scored as Feyenoord finished second and one spot in front of PSV Eindhoven, which beat last-place Excelsior Rotterdam 3-1.