• Premier League round-up

Cruise for City, relief for United & derby joy for Reds

ESPN staff
October 1, 2011
Mario Balotelli pounced for Manchester City as they remained undefeated with victory over Blackburn © Getty Images
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Manchester City put a catastrophic week behind them on Saturday with a 4-0 victory over Blackburn at Ewood Park to stay level with Manchester rivals United at the top of the Barclays Premier League.

Following the alleged refusal of Carlos Tevez to come on as a substitute at Bayern Munich, Roberto Mancini's players formed a far more cohesive unit as they continued their unbeaten start to the Premier League campaign. There were no off-field dramas to speak of for a relieved Mancini, who witnessed a super strike from Adam Johnson in addition to goals from Mario Balotelli, Samir Nasri and Stefan Savic.

With Tevez suspended, Mancini listed Sergio Aguero, Johnson and Balotelli as his front three, leaving Nasri to control his emotions on the bench. The former Arsenal man didn't have to wait long for his chance though, after Aguero limped off midway through the first half.

Shorn of both Argentineans, City struggled to create chances in the first half at Ewood Park, but Balotelli was unlucky early in the second period when he curled against a post. The pressure mounted, and Johnson made the breakthrough on 56 minutes, guiding a delightful strike past Paul Robinson from the edge of the penalty area.

Balotelli was then quick to kill the game off with a predatory effort, arriving at the near post to poke home number two, before Nasri and Savic both notched their first league goals for the club.

Manchester United remain above City by one goal after they snapped a two-game spell without a win (in all competitions) with a less-than-impressive 2-0 triumph over Norwich at Old Trafford. Bolstered by the return of Wayne Rooney, United were fortunate to take three points against the Canaries who were eventually penetrated by Anderson 22 minutes from time before Danny Welbeck made the points safe.

There was a surprise in United's line-up prior to kick-off, with David De Gea and Ashley Young both missing for the champions. United looked unsettled without Young, who has been one of their best performers this season, and Norwich had every right to believe they should have led after an extremely even first half.

Sparking memories of the midweek 3-3 draw against Basel, United were far too open at the back, and only Anthony Pilkington knows how he missed after running clean through, slotting the ball wide of Anders Lindegaard's far post.

Andy Carroll opened his Premier League account as Liverpool beat Everton 2-0 at Goodison Park © Getty Images
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Norwich paid dearly for that miss, falling behind moments later as Rooney found Anderson inside the area at a corner, and the Brazilian lifted the evident anxiety around Old Trafford. The lead should have lasted less than five minutes as Norwich this time hit the woodwork, but it was United who netted again late on through Welbeck.

Everton were controversially forced to play 67 minutes of the Merseyside derby with 10 men after the dismissal of Jack Rodwell, and Liverpool eventually made their numerical superiority count as Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez handed them a 2-0 victory at Goodison Park.

The game appeared to be shaping into a good contest but, on 23 minutes, referee Martin Atkinson intervened to put Everton at a significant disadvantage. Rodwell, keeping a close rein on Suarez, lunged into a challenge on the Uruguayan, winning the ball whilst keeping his studs directed towards the turf. Atkinson deemed the tackle to be dangerous, and he brandished a red card to the pure amazement of nearly everybody inside the ground.

Atkinson was involved in another major decision on the stroke of the interval but this time there was no disputing his call after Phil Jagielka hammered into the back of Suarez to concede a penalty. Dirk Kuyt, who once scored two spot-kicks in the same game at Goodison Park, stepped up but saw his low effort brilliantly turned around the frame of the goal by Howard.

Still there was time for more drama with Charlie Adam sending an arrow of a 20-yard drive against the underside of Howard's bar, but it took until midway through the second period for Liverpool to settle the match.

Drawing the right-back, Craig Bellamy fed the overlapping Jose Enrique, who crossed low from the byline for Carroll who volleyed home from 10 yards. Suarez then made the game safe eight minutes from time, calmly sliding the ball past Howard after a mix-up between Leighton Baines and Sylvain Distin.

Newcastle's excellent start to the season showed no signs of abating at Wolves, who were beaten 2-1 at Molineux. Alan Pardew's Magpies have not lost any of their opening seven league games, the latest result coming courtesy of goals from Demba Ba and Jonas Gutierrez.

Ba scored a hat-trick in Newcastle's last league outing, and he needed just 17 minutes to strike again on Saturday, meeting Yohan Cabaye's corner at the near post. By half-time the lead was doubled through a low drive by Gutierrez, although Wolves were denied the chance to halve that deficit when a blatant penalty was not given after a foul by Steven Taylor.

Steven Fletcher handed Wolves a lifeline with two minutes remaining, and they had a goal disallowed deep into injury-time as Newcastle held on.

Demba Ba continued his fine form for Newcastle © PA Photos
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Aston Villa had drawn five of their first six matches, but they clinched all three points at home to Wigan, winning 2-0 at Villa Park. Gabriel Agbonlahor, enjoying a new lease of life under Alex McLeish, capitalised on an excellent pass by Barry Bannan to strike a sweet shot past Ali Al-Habsi for the opener. Agbonlahor then turned provider for Darren Bent to score Villa's second.

In the afternoon's other encounter, Sunderland and West Brom produced a thriller at the Stadium of Light as the score finished 2-2. The Baggies were two up in five minutes on away soil, James Morrison glancing home a free header before Shane Long notched his third league goal of the season.

However, the Black Cats erased that deficit midway through the first half with a quick-fire double of their own. First Nicklas Bendtner clipped the ball off an upright to get his side back into the contest, and then Ahmed Elmohamady buried a 12-yard header to restore parity.

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