Manchester clubs continue strong starts; Liverpool win

Raheem Sterling shone for Manchester City and Romelu Lukaku deliveredfor Manchester United as the Manchester clubs maintained their grip onthe Premier League title race with victories yesterday.Sterling scored a brace as City crushed bottom club Crystal Palace 5-0to go top on goal difference above United, who won 1-0 at Southamptoncourtesy of Lukaku’s first-half goal. Champions Chelsea, TottenhamHotspur and Liverpool all kept pace with the top two, putting thepressure on Arsenal, who host West Bromwich Albion tomorrow.“The first half we had problems as the ball must be moved and we didn’tmove it,” said City manager Pep Guardiola. “But the last 10-15 minutesof the half, we got it. The second half was much, much better. (Leroy)Sane’s (opening) goal was so important.”Palace have lost their first six games of the season after crashing to aheavy defeat at the Etihad Stadium in Roy Hodgson’s second league gameas manager. City went in front shortly before half-time when Leroy Saneconverted after a one-two with David Silva.Sterling’s quick-fire double took the game beyond Palace, the Englandforward tapping in passes from Sane and Sergio Aguero in the 51st and59th minutes. Aguero made it 4-0, heading in Sane’s cross to close towithin one goal of Eric Brook’s all-time City record of 177 goals,before Fabian Delph curled in a fine fifth.Guardiola’s side have scored 16 goals in their last three league games,having previously trounced Liverpool 5-0 and won 6-0 at Watford. Cityleft-back Benjamin Mendy will undergo tests today after a knee injuryforced him off in the first half.United had a rather less straightforward afternoon at Southampton, butthey prevailed thanks to Lukaku’s sixth goal of the campaign. TheBelgium international struck in the 20th minute, scoring at the secondattempt after his header from Ashley Young’s in-swinging cross was savedby Fraser Forster.“It is not always possible to operate at high quality, but we foughthard,” United manager Jose Mourinho said Sports after being sent to thestands in stoppage time for encroaching onto the pitch. “It was a hardgame, but I am really happy.”United’s fans again aired a chant about Lukaku that draws on racialstereotypes about black men’s penises and the club said they hadrequested CCTV footage from Southampton to identify the culprits.Chelsea remain three points off the pace in third place after AlvaroMorata scored a hat-trick in a breezy 4-0 win at Stoke City, with Pedroalso on target. “Morata played a good game, a really good performance,”Chelsea manager Antonio Conte said. “Now he has to continue this way tobe a great striker.”Philippe Coutinho scored a stunning free-kick — his first goal sincebeing refused a transfer to Barcelona — as Liverpool narrowly won 3-2 atLeicester City. Mohamed Salah and Jordan Henderson were also on target,but Shinji Okazaki and Jamie Vardy replied for Leicester and Liverpoolwere indebted to Simon Mignolet for saving Vardy’s 73rd-minute penalty.Harry Kane took his tally to six goals in four games as Tottenham won3-2 at West Ham United to chalk up a third successive away win. Kane’sfirst-half brace and a Christian Eriksen effort put Spurs 3-0 up beforeSerge Aurier was sent off and West Ham came back into the game throughJavier Hernandez and Cheikhou Kouyate.Liverpool and Spurs are level on 11 points, five points leader.Second-half substitute Oumar Niasse netted twice as Everton snapped arun of three successive defeats by coming from behind to win 2-1 at hometo Bournemouth, who had gone ahead through Josh King. Richarlison’s89th-minute strike saw Watford snatch a 2-1 win at Swansea City, who arestill without a home win, while Burnley and Huddersfield Town playedout a goalless draw at Turf Moor.Premier League resultsBurnley 0 Huddersfield 0Everton 2 (Niasse 77, 82) Bournemouth 1 (King 49)Leicester 2 (Okazaki 45+3, Vardy 69) Liverpool 3 (Salah 16, Coutinho 23, Henderson 68)Manchester City 5 (Sane 44, Sterling 51, 59, Augero 79, Delph 89) Crystal Palace 0Southampton 0 Manchester United 1 (Lukaku 20)Stoke 0 Chelsea 4 (Morata 2, 77, 82, Pedro 30)Swansea 1 (Abraham 56) Watford 2 (Gray 13, Richarlison 90)West Ham 2 (Hernandez 65, Kouyate 87) Tottenham 3 (Kane 34, 38, Eriksen 60)Playing today: Brighton v Newcastle (1400 GMT)Playing tomorrow: Arsenal v West Brom (1900 GMT)