Man City go top after United draw at Liverpool

LONDON (AP):

Manchester City dismissed Aston Villa 4-1 yesterday to move two points clear of city rivals Manchester United at the top of the English 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.

Chelsea stayed third and three points behind the leaders with a 3-1 win over Everton.

Liverpool have 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 them stay on 11 points, level with Norwich after their 3-1 victory over Swansea.

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.

Today it's Arsenal vs Sunderland; Newcastle vs Tottenham; and West Bromwich Albion vs Wolverhampton.

Impressive kick

With injured Argentina striker Sergio Aguero missing, Balotelli scored for the fourth consecutive game with an impressive overhead bicycle kick as City shrugged off the drama surrounding Carlos Tevez's future, while Edin Dzeko was confined to the bench for the second straight match.

Stephen Warnock scored a consolation goal for Villa as City conceded for the first time this season at Eastlands, where the club knew a victory would take them 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 Montenegro opponent in a 2-2 draw earlier this week.

Steven Gerrard - making his first start in seven months - scored from 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.