Manchester City closed the gap on leader Chelsea to two points after Carlos Tevez's double helped to secure a 3-2 victory over Blackpool in the Premier League on Sunday.

Tevez's first goal came when he got in front of Craig Cathcart as substitute David Silva played the ball in and forced it home.

Tevez chipped home David Silva's low cross to put City ahead in the 67th minute and the Argentina striker sent a deflected drive into the net 11 minutes later, soon after Marlon Harewood had headed Blackpool level.

Silva looked to have settled the match when he curled in his first league goal in the 90th, but Gary Taylor-Fletcher still found time to pull one back for Blackpool.

"They put us under a lot pressure, which we knew they would," City winger James Milner said.

"We managed to ride the storm, score three good goals, and hung on at the end. The best is to come but it's the sign of a good team when they can win and not play the best football.

"Hopefully we can keep improving as a team, keep moving forward and hopefully you'll see the best of us soon."

Second-place City took full advantage of defending champion Chelsea being held 0-0 by Aston Villa on Sunday. Arsenal, Manchester United and Tottenham are a further three points behind City.

City only got going in the second half at Blackpool, and it was powered to victory by Tevez taking his tally to 28 goals in his last 31 league games.

"He's carried on from last season," City midfielder Gareth Barry said. "He's a world class striker."

Blackpool remains 10th with 10 points in its first season in the top flight since 1971.?