Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko has admitted that Chelsea's draw with Burnley gave them a lift before they thrashed Newcastle United 5-0 this evening.

City are now five points behind Chelsea at the top of the Premier League table, and Dzeko believes that they can catch their rivals and defend the title.

He told Sky Sports News: "It is good we played an amazing game. The defence enjoyed this game and I did too. We were just thinking about Newcastle, also knowing Chelsea drew, we had to do our job and we did it well.

"Just before going out on the pitch, we found about Chelsea's result. It was positive and good for us knowing we can reduce the points to them. Maybe five points is still a lot but if we can continue to play like that we can definitely catch them."

City next face Barcelona in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Tuesday.

Written by
Charlie Bennett