Man City sink Chelsea to take title initiative

AFP: Sergio Aguero, Vincent Kompany and Fernandinho scored as Manchester City crushed Chelsea 3-0 on Sunday to establish a five-point advantage over the champions in the fledgling Premier League table.

After going close several times, Aguero celebrated his return to the starting XI by wriggling through Chelsea’s defence to score a 31st-minute opener before Kompany and Fernandinho made the game safe late on.

The well-earned victory continued City’s impressive start to the season following their 3-0 win at West Bromwich Albion and gave manager Manuel Pellegrini a first win over his nemesis Jose Mourinho since the Portuguese returned to Chelsea in 2013.

Football - Manchester City v Chelsea - Barclays Premier League - Etihad Stadium - 16/8/15 Vincent Kompany scores the second goal for Manchester City - Reuters

“To win 3-0 in two games, one against the champions -- we are just starting the season, but it’s important to play in the way we did today,” Pellegrini told Sky Sports.

“We always dominate Chelsea. Maybe we draw against them last year and before we lost, but always we dominate Chelsea. Today we made the complete work.”

City are now top of the table, above Leicester City and Manchester United on goal difference.

Defeat completed a miserable week for Mourinho, widely criticised for demoting his medics Eva Carneiro and Jon Fearn after last weekend’s 2-2 draw with Swansea City, and means Chelsea have failed to win one of their first two league games for the first time since 1998.

It was also a day to forget for visiting captain John Terry, who watched the second half from the bench after being substituted at half-time -- the first time Mourinho had taken him off in 177 league games.