Jesus brace fires City to 5-0 win over 10-man Liverpool

Manchester, England (Reuters): Brazilian striker Gabriel Jesus scored twice as Manchester City hammered Liverpool 5-0 in the Premier League at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday with the visitors forced to play the second half down to 10 men.

The result sends City, temporarily at least, to the top of the Premier League table with 10 points from four games, a point more than local rivals Manchester United who are at Stoke City later on Saturday.

Liverpool’s Senegalese striker Sadio Mane was shown a straight red card in the 37th minute for a high challenge on City’s keeper Ederson, who had raced out of the penalty area and had to be carried off on a stretcher following the clash. City were already 1-0 up at that stage thanks to a Sergio Aguero goal and they soon made their numerical advantage count when Jesus headed in a De Bruyne cross.

The Brazilian tapped in his second in the 53rd minute after Aguero unselfishly played him in and Leroy Sane made it 4-0 in the 77th after combining well with Benjamin Mendy. Sane completed the rout in injury time with a brilliant, curling left-foot shot from 25 metres into the far corner. While the red card was the key moment in the game, Liverpool’s defensive frailties were again exposed as City found it far too easy to open up their back line.City manager Pep Guardiola opted for a relatively defensive formation with Kyle Walker and Benjamin Mendy operating as the two wing-backs at the side of a three-man defence.

Chelsea roll on with 2-1 win at Leicester

Reuters: English champions Chelsea ground out their third successive Premier League win after goals from Alvaro Morata and N‘Golo Kante helped them to a 2-1 defeat of Leicester City on Saturday.

Spain striker Morata headed the visitors into a 41st-minute lead and former Leicester midfielder Kante doubled their advantage with a long-range effort before Jamie Vardy pulled one back with a penalty.

Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel was at fault for Chelsea’s second, allowing Kante’s tame shot from 30 metres to sneak in under his body to the dismay of home fans at the King Power stadium.

Vardy reduced the deficit with the spot kick on the hour after he was tripped by Chelsea keeper Thibaut Courtois but Leicester rarely looked like snatching a draw as the visitors held out in the closing stages.

Kane’s lucky break chalks up his century

Reuters: Harry Kane admitted the long-range shot that brought up his 100th goal for Tottenham Hotspur in their 3-0 win at Everton on Saturday was a complete fluke.

The striker reached the century mark - and opened his league account for the season - after 28 minutes of his 169th game for Spurs with a strike from five metres wide of the area that looped over Everton keeper Jordan Pickford into the far corner.

Afterwards, Kane admitted he had actually been trying to cross the ball. “I think everyone could tell my first goal was a cross but you need that luck sometimes,” said Kane.

“To get 100 goals is amazing. Hopefully, I can get the next hundred even quicker. It’s been a crazy few years. I thought we played fantastically throughout the pitch.”

Kane did not have to wait long for his 101st, adding his second, and Tottenham’s third, from Ben Davies’s cross after Christian Eriksen had doubled their lead in a game that soon became a stroll.

”That was a very good performance today,“ he said. ”It is not an easy place to come but we played very well all through the pitch. Our attacking play was fantastic.

“We wanted to come here and get a good result. We just need to take this momentum into the Champions League next week.”

Kane, who has still not scored a Premier League goal for Spurs in August, has ended as the Premier League’s top goalscorer in each of the past two seasons and will be aiming for the hat-trick, assuming Spurs improve on their “home” form at Wembley.

Everton manager Ronald Koeman condemned his players for being “too nice” and “weak” but admitted they had been up against one of the game’s most impressive strikers.

“Maybe after Messi and Ronaldo, Alexis Sanchez and one or two more, he is one of the best,” said Koeman.

“Okay, the first goal was lucky because he didn’t mean to shoot the ball in the goal, but he is a really clever player. His movement, using his body against defenders, his finishing, he is a top striker.”

The result capped a disastrous week for Everton whose striker, Wayne Rooney, has been charged with a drink-driving offence.

Everton were booed by their own supporters and Rooney relentlessly barracked by some visiting fans.