Andy Cole's two goals earned Manchester City a 2-1 victory Sunday over West Ham, moving City into fourth place in the English Premier League.
Cole scored in the 18th minute, netting a sharp-angled shot from the left side after a build up that started deep in his team's own half. In the 56th, he scored on a rebound that Roy Carroll failed to control.
Second-half substitute Bobby Zamora scored in injury time for the Hammers.
In Sunday's other game in England, Kevin Phillips' first-half goal gave Aston Villa a 1-0 victory over rival Birmingham City.
Phillips, back after missing four games with an injury, scored in the 19th minute with a left-footed shot from 20m. Goalkeeper Maik Taylor got a hand to the ball, but failed to stop it.
Manchester City improved to 17 points -- the same as crosstown rival Manchester United, which leads with a superior goal difference. Chelsea leads the league with 27 points, followed by Tottenham with 18.
Cole, a former Manchester United and England striker, scored the two goals the day after his 34th birthday.
"My little boy asked me yesterday, wouldn't it be nice to get a hat trick to celebrate my birthday. So I dedicated it to him," Cole said.
Asked how much higher City could go in the standings, Cole replied: "We all know there are only a few clubs that can win the championship, and I don't think Manchester City are one of those. But if we can keep playing the way we are playing and, hopefully finish in Europe, everybody will be delighted with it."
Manchester City manager Stuart Pearce credited Cole with his goal-scoring touch -- and something else.
"He's come in and he's got leadership qualities, which probably I didn't realize from afar," Pearce said. "He's been an absolute credit to this club and he's got something to prove."
Battling it out at the bottom of the table, Villa improved to nine points in nine games. Birmingham has six points in nine. It was Villa's first victory in the Premier League against Birmingham.
"We've got to defend better, and we defended better today," Villa manager David O'Leary said. "Birmingham are a team that are very direct. They knock it up to two very big men up there, and they rely on that second ball."
Ricardo Oliveira scored a 17th-minute penalty to give Real Betis a 1-0 win over Getafe.
Getafe, which lost for the first time this season, gave up the penalty when Oliveira was taken down by goalkeeper Luis Garcia.
"There's a first time for everything," Getafe coach Bernd Schuster said. "Today we couldn't take our chances."
Betis midfielder Marcos Assuncao also had a chance, hitting the bar with a free kick early in the second half.
The visitors finished with 10 men when Getafe midfielder Diego Rivas received his second yellow card in the 89th minute.
Getafe now trails leaders Real Madrid and Osasuna by one point. Madrid, which beat Atletico Madrid 3-0 on Saturday, has 15 points.
Celta Vigo also had a chance to move into first place, but lost at Osasuna 2-0 and dropped to fourth with 14 points. Savo Milosevic and Achille Webo scored a goal each.
Thomas Brdaric scored two goals to lead Hannover 96 over FC Cologne 4-1 in a relegation battle.
Both struggling teams were eager to beat competition that could stand in the way of avoiding demotion.
"We worked toward this game for two weeks -- it was a life-and-death win," Hannover coach Ewald Lienen said.
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