Dzeko goal keeps City in fourth spot

Second-half substitute Dzeko, bought for 30 million pounds ($47.81 million) from VfL Wolfsburg in January, pounced on a loose ball eight metres out after 75 minutes to leave City on 59 points from 33 matches, five points behind third-placed Arsenal with a game in hand.

This season's FA Cup finalists also pulled four points clear of fifth-placed Tottenham Hotspur who, like City, have played 33 games, and the relief on Dzeko's face after notching his first Premier League goal was clear to see after the match.

“I'm not the first one who hasn't made the best of himself,” he said, referring to Chelsea's January signing Fernando Torres who scored his first goal for the London club on Saturday.
“I'm happy also for him. I know what the pressure is,” Dzeko told Sky Sports.

The visitors started at a frenzied pace and could have scored inside three minutes when David Silva cracked a left-footed volley on to the post.

After weathering Blackburn pressure in the second half, City struck when Silva's shot was diverted into Dzeko's path and he finished clinically although television replays suggested fellow striker Mario Balotelli was offside and impeding goalkeeper Paul Robinson.

Blackburn Rovers are in a relegation battle, one point ahead of 18th-placed team Wigan Athletic and only three in front of bottom club West Ham United.