LONDON— Jack Grealish scored his first goal for
Manchester City as the Premier League champions thrashed Norwich 5-0, while
title rivals Liverpool extended their perfect start with a 2-0 victory against
Burnley on Saturday.
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Grealish marked his home debut following his British record
£100 million move from Aston Villa with a close-range effort to double City's
lead in the first half.
Tim Krul's own goal had given City the lead at the Etihad
Stadium.
Aymeric Laporte, Raheem Sterling and Riyad Mahrez netted in
the second half to ensure City bounced back from last weekend's defeat at
Tottenham.
City had been beaten in both of Grealish's previous
appearances, losing the Community Shield against Leicester and then slumping in
their Premier League opener.
But Grealish's first goal since January helped show Pep
Guardiola's side they can cope without Harry Kane if their prolonged pursuit of
the Tottenham striker ends in failure.
With the injured Kevin De Bruyne absent for City, Gabriel
Jesus, Bernardo Silva, and Laporte all started amid reports they are looking to
leave after growing unhappy with their reduced roles last season.
Jesus took the chance to remind Guardiola of his qualities
with a virtuoso display.
It was the Brazilian forward's volleyed cross in the seventh
minute that brought City's opener.
Grant Hanley attempted to clear but instead hit Norwich
goalkeeper Krul as the ball looped into the net.
Grealish got off the mark in slightly fortuitous fashion in
the 22nd minute.
Jesus's cross reached Grealish at the far post and bounced
in off the England midfielder.
Laporte scored in the 64th minute with a close-range finish
after Norwich failed to clear a corner.
Jesus provided his third assist of the afternoon as Sterling
tapped in after 71 minutes before Mahrez grabbed City's fifth with a simple
finish in the 84th minute.
At Anfield,
Liverpool earned a second successive wins thanks
to goals from Diogo Jota and Sadio Mane, but Reds boss Jurgen Klopp was angry
with Burnley's aggressive tackling.
Jota scored Liverpool's first goal in the 3-0 win at Norwich
last weekend and the Portugal forward gave Klopp's men the lead again with an
18th minute header from Kostas Tsimikas' cross.
'Too dangerous'
Senegal winger Mane opened his account for the season in the
69th minute.
Teenage midfielder Harvey Elliott, making his first Premier
League start, picked out Trent Alexander-Arnold and the defender's deft pass to
Mane was slammed past Nick Pope from 12 yards.
However, Klopp was frustrated that Sean Dyche's side,
renowned for their physical approach, were able to get away with some
thunderous challenges due to lenient refereeing.
"You saw these challenges of (Ashley) Barnes and
(Chris) Wood on Virgil (Van Dijk) and Joel (Matip)," Klopp said.
"I am not 100 percent sure if we are going in the right
direction with these decisions, if we go 10 years back.
"It is too dangerous. It is just hard.
The rules are
how they are but you cannot defend these situations."
Raphinha's rocket rescued Leeds in their 2-2 draw against
Everton at Elland Road.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin put Everton ahead in the 30th minute,
converting a penalty after Liam Cooper's challenge on the England striker.
Mateusz Klich hauled Leeds level four minutes before
half-time with a composed finish from just inside the area.
Demarai Gray restored Everton's lead in the 50th minute as
the winger drilled home for his first goal since signing from Bayer Leverkusen
in the close-season.
But Leeds equalized through a blistering strike from
Brazilian winger Raphinha in the 72nd minute.
Danny Ings scored a spectacular bicycle kick as Aston Villa
beat Newcastle 2-0 to claim their first win of the season.
Former Southampton striker Ings' moment of magic came in
first-half stoppage-time, making it two goals in as many appearances for his
new club.
Anwar El Ghazi got Villa's second from the penalty spot
after Jamal Lascelles handled in the 62nd minute.
Patrick Vieira is still waiting for his first win as Crystal
Palace manager after a 0-0 draw against Brentford in the first meeting between
the London clubs for 44 years.
Brighton host promoted Watford in Saturday's late game.
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