Manchester City dismissed Aston Villa 4-1 yesterday to move two points clear of city rival Manchester United at the top of the Premier League after the defending champions were held to a 1-1 draw at Liverpool.
Mario Balotelli scored in the first half before Adam Johnson, Vincent Kompany and James Milner added goals after the break as City improved to 22 points - two clear of United.
With injured Argentina striker Sergio Aguero missing, Balotelli’s impressive overhead bicycle kick saw the Italy striker net for a fourth successive game as City shrugged off the drama surrounding Carlos Tevez’s future, while Edin Dzeko was confined to the bench for the second straight match.
Shane Warnock scored a consolation goal for Villa as City conceded for the first time at Eastlands, where the club knew a victory would take it top with United held in one of England’s top derbies.
The capacity 45,065 crowd at Anfield included two-time NBA MVP LeBron James, who watched Liverpool play live for the first time since becoming a minority owner of the club.
James did well not to nod off in a first half when chances were sparse as United manager Alex Ferguson left Wayne Rooney out with the England striker “devastated” by a three-match Euro 2012 ban for kicking out at a Macedonia opponent in a 2-2 draw earlier this week.
Steven Gerrard - making his first start in seven months - scored from a a 68th-minute free kick before Rooney and Nani came off the bench to spur United. Javier Hernandez rescued a point with his 81st-minute header.
“I didn’t think they were really threatening until they scored the goal but then the game opened up and we took the chance,” Ferguson said. “In the context of today the result is fair.”
City leads the league with 22 points from eight matches while United has 20.
Liverpool has 14 points in fifth while Stoke improved to 12 points after a 2-0 win over Fulham. Villa’s first defeat of the season saw it stay on 11 points, same as Norwich after its 3-1 victory over Swansea.
Jonathan Walters and Rory Delap scored in the last 10 minutes for Stoke while Anthony Pilkington scored two goals in Norwich’s emphatic win.
Pilkington scored the fastest goal of the Premier League season when he volleyed in after 50 seconds and Norwich was quickly 2-0 up after Russell Martin’s header in the 9th minute.
Danny Graham scored his second goal in two games in the 12th to give Swansea hope but Pilkington struck again in the 63rd for the promoted side’s third win in four matches.
Bolton, meanwhile, ended a run of five straight losses and moved off the bottom of the standings after a 3-1 win at Wigan that eased the pressure on manager Owen Coyle.
Also yesterday, defender Chris Samba secured a 1-1 draw for struggling Blackburn against Queens Park Rangers eight minutes after Heidar Helguson had given QPR a 16th-minute lead.