Liverpool, England: Manchester City earned a third straight win to start the Premier League season, beating Everton 2-0 thanks to second-half goals by Aleksandar Kolarov and Samir Nasri on Sunday.
Kolarov put City ahead in the 60th minute when he charged up from left back, ran onto Raheem Sterling's pass and beat American goalkeeper Tim Howard at his near post with a shot from an acute angle.
Nasri came on as a substitute and scored the second by chipping Howard after playing a one-two with Yaya Toure.
City has already beaten both West Bromwich Albion and Chelsea 3-0, and tops the standings by two points as it looks to win a third league title in five years.
Manuel Pellegrini's team has now scored eight goals in three games and is looking much more solid in defense, with Vincent Kompany and Eliaquim Mangala having excellent games at center back. Argentina defender Nicolas Otamendi, signed on Thursday for 40 million euros ($44 million), wasn't in the squad for the match.
Sergio Aguero was twice denied by Howard in the first nine minutes, while Sterling couldn't stretch far enough to turn the ball into an empty net from David Silva's disguised cross.
Romelu Lukaku proved a handful at the other end, first having a goal disallowed for being marginally offside from Ross Barkley's through-ball and then curling in a free kick that skimmed the top of the crossbar at the end of the first half.
Silva struck the goal frame for City two minutes after the restart and the visitors had regained the initiative by the time Kolarov put them ahead. Silva led City on the counterattack, Sterling slipped in Kolarav — sprinting up from full back — and the Serbia international tricked Howard to beat the goalkeeper at his near post.
The closest Everton came to equalizing was when Kompany cleared the ball off his goal line following a header from Gareth Barry in the 78th, but it was all City in the closing stages.
Nasri, marginalized this season after Sterling's arrival from Liverpool, came on for the winger and clinched victory. A superb piece of skill from Silva set up another attack before Nasri passed to Toure and ran onto the midfielder's clipped pass to scoop a shot over Howard from close range.
