MANCHESTER: Manchester City, Premier League champions in 2012 and 2014, went to the top of the table with a 3-1 victory over West Ham United on Sunday.

They moved on goal difference above Chelsea and neighbours Manchester United, who have also won their three opening games.

Having scored twice in the first 18 minutes through Raheem Sterling and Brazilian Fernandinho, Pep Guardiola’s side appeared set for an easy three points, only to be pegged back as the London side improved after halftime.

Michail Antonio reduced the deficit in the 58th minute but Sterling scored his second goal in stoppage time from an acute angle.

City’s passing and movement was irresistible in the first half, with Sterling’s sidefooted finish in the seventh minute coming from one of the team’s many flowing moves.

Fernandinho added a second goal with a powerful header from Kevin de Bruyne’s free kick.

It needed Sterling’s second goal, when he rounded the goalkeeper and scored from an acute angle, to settle City’s nerves but Guardiola will be concerned with how his team’s level dropped in the second half.

He might also be worried about the immediate future of striker Sergio Aguero, who appeared to thrown an elbow at Winston Reid in a second-half incident not seen by officials.

City’s next game is against United, after the international break.

Earlier in the day, West Bromwich Albion and Middlesbrough scrapped their way to a goalless draw in a game of few chances at The Hawthorns.

The point apiece saw newly-promoted Boro climb into joint sixth place with Tottenham Hotspur, with West Brom moving up to tenth in the table.

But this was a match to tax even the patience of the most loyal supporters, with visitors Boro not managing a shot on target until 17 minutes from time and the Baggies offering little more in attack.

“It was an important point,” Middlesbrough coach Aitor Karanka told Sky Sports. “West Brom is a difficult place so I am pleased with the players. The discipline was good and the second half in particular it was not easy to play the way we wanted.”

In Saturday’s late match, Marcus Rashford struck deep into second-half stoppage time to help Manchester United snatch a 1-0 win at Hull City and move behind coach Jose Mourinho’s old club Chelsea only on goals scored.

United were frustrated in wet conditions by Hull’s dogged defending before the 18-year-old Rashford came off the bench and tapped in Wayne Rooney’s cross at the KCOM Stadium.

United have won their first three games of the season for the first time since 2011, when Alex Ferguson was still in charge.

It’s early days but United under Mourinho are beginning to have the same aura as Ferguson’s sides, and even scoring goals in so-called “Fergie Time”.

“We deserved it and in a more comfortable way. It is a great feeling when you win the points in the last minute,” Mourinho said. “We were so intense in our attacking ways, I always believed the goal would arrive.”

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2016