City goes top of English Premier League

LONDON — Defending champion Manchester City is on top of the English Premier League for the first time this season.

And if Pep Guardiola’s team keeps playing like this, it could be difficult to knock City off its perch, even in a tight race that saw three different teams lead the standings during Saturday.

On a day when previous leader Chelsea faltered, City displayed total dominance in a 3-1 win at Watford that showed off the kind of fluid passing game that helped Guardiola’s team win three of the past four league titles. Bernardo Silva scored twice after Raheem Sterling’s early opener as City proved once again that it can do perfectly fine without a recognized striker in the lineup. It was a fifth straight league win for City, which is one point ahead of Liverpool and two in front of Chelsea after 15 rounds. “It’s always better to be top of the league than second, third or fourth, but it’s still early,” Silva said.

West Ham shook up the title race by beating Chelsea 3-2 at home in the early game, then Liverpool needed an injury-time goal from Divock Origi to earn a 1-0 victory at Wolverhampton that put Jurgen Klopp’s team on top for a few hours.

City, though, was in front from the start in the late kickoff.

Sterling scored the opener in the fourth minute as City capitalized on a loose pass and Phil Foden crossed into the centre for Sterling to head home unmarked. Silva then doubled the lead in the 31st by weaving past two defenders before slotting the ball past goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann.

City could have added more goals before Silva got the third with a clever curled effort into the top corner in the 63rd. Watford pulled one back through Cucho Hernandez.