EPL PIX: City win Manchester derby; Everton hold Chelsea

Smooth City win Manchester derby 3-1 to stay two clear of Liverpool

Premier League leaders Manchester City turned on the style with a 3-1 win over Manchester United in their derby clash, on Sunday, leaving Pep Guardiola's unbeaten side two points clear of Liverpool.

David Silva fired City ahead in the 12th minute after a Raheem Sterling cross from the left was turned back across the goal by Bernardo Silva and the Spaniard took his time before blasting home.

City doubled their lead in the third minute after the interval -- Aguero bursting goalwards and playing a clever exchange with Riyad Mahrez, before thumping the ball, from a tight angle, past David de Gea.

United manager Jose Mourinho brought on Romelu Lukaku for Jesse Lingard in the 57th minute and within seconds the Belgian forward helped get his team back in the game. Lukaku was brought down inside the area by City keeper Ederson and French forward Anthony Martial confidently converted the spot kick.

But four minutes from the end City secured the victory, their 10th in 12 games this season, when the influential Bernardo Silva picked out substitute Ilkay Gundogan in the area and the German made no mistake as he made it 3-1.

Eighth placed United are now 12 points behind City.

Chelsea held 0-0 by Everton, lose ground in title race

Chelsea were held to a 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge by Everton on Sunday, maintaining their unbeaten start to the league season but losing ground to fellow title-chasers Liverpool, who won earlier in the day.

Chelsea needed three points after Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Fulham but could not make their home advantage count against a well-organised Everton side and failed to score for only the second time in the league this season.

After a scrappy and ill-tempered first half, Chelsea improved but were unable to convert their chances.

The result saw Chelsea coach Maurizio Sarri set a new record for the longest unbeaten run by a new Premier League manager after 12 games.

Yet the Italian, who joined Chelsea in the summer from Napoli, saw little reason to celebrate despite his pride at achieving the landmark.

“I am really very proud about it. I know very well that I have to say thank you to the club because they gave me a very good squad, I have to say thank you to my players first of all and finally I have to say thank you to my staff,” said Sarri.

“But, of course I prefer the three points today than the record.”

Sarri was worried that Chelsea were struggling to create chances, despite dominating possession in recent games.

“In the last three matches, we created few goal opportunities in relation to how much we played. So in this moment maybe it’s a little problem,” he said.

But he praised Chelsea’s performance for much of Sunday’s game.

Everton’s England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, who produced a fine save from a Marcos Alonso volley in the first half, prevented Alvaro Morata from opening the scoring immediately after the restart with a dive to his right.

Alonso hit the post in the 65th minute as Chelsea applied more pressure but were ultimately unable to break Everton down.

The result left Chelsea in third place on 28 points, two points behind Liverpool and one behind champions Manchester City who were hosting local rivals Manchester United later on Sunday.

Everton coach Marco Silva praised his side for snuffing out Chelsea’s creativity although he made it clear he expected more from his strikers who squandered the few opportunities that came their way.

“I think we did a good step. We could do better in the future. I think we are creating the conditions to challenge more and more teams like Chelsea,” Silva said.

Liverpool make hard work of victory over struggling Fulham

Goals by Mo Salah and Xherdan Shaqiri took Liverpool from third place to the top of the Premier League for a couple of hours at least with a 2-0 victory over bottom club Fulham at Anfield on Sunday.

They moved above the other two unbeaten teams, Manchester City and Chelsea, who were both playing home games later on Sunday.

Juergen Klopp's side made hard work of it for 40 minutes, however, and could easily have fallen behind.

Just before halftime the visitors' Serbian striker Aleksandar Mitrovic had a headed goal disallowed for offside by the closest of margins.

Liverpool immediately counter-attacked and Salah went clear to open the scoring. Shaqiri's side-footed volley after 53 minutes doubled the lead, pushing Fulham towards a sixth successive Premier League defeat, which equals a club record.

With only one win in their 12 matches, they remain two points behind the rest and have the worst defensive record in the league, having conceded 31 times.

Goalkeeper Sergio Rico, on loan from La Liga club Sevilla, kept Liverpool at bay for most of the first half, making two particularly good saves from Salah.

Ryan Sessegnon, the highly regarded midfielder, missed a good chance to give the Londoners a shock lead midway through the first half.

A flick by Mitrovic put him clear but the teenager pulled his shot wide.

Then came the double blow to Fulham, who felt not only that Mitrovic was just onside when he headed in after a short-corner routine but that the ball was moving when goalkeeper Alisson took the quick free kick that allowed Trent Alexander-Arnold to send Salah through.

Less than 15 seconds had elapsed between the ball being in one net and the other.

Fulham had tried to play offside in vain and their defending was poor again when the unmarked Shaqiri scored with a precise sidefooted volley from Andy Robertson's cross.

That seemed to knock the stuffing out of them and the only surprise was that Liverpool did not further improve their goal difference.

"We scored a lot of goals last season but this season we have been solid at the back as well," said left back Robertson.

"It was a difficult first half but in the second half I thought we controlled it."

Late goal earns Arsenal 1-1 draw against Wolves, stay 5th

A late equaliser from substitute Henrikh Mkhitaryan spared Arsenal's blushes in a 1-1 draw against a well-organised and creative Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League at the Emirates on Sunday.

The visitors had been minutes away from their first victory over the Londoners since 1979 after taking the lead in the 13th minute through Ivan Cavaleiro.

The Portuguese forward intercepted a clumsy back pass from Arsenal's Granit Xhaka, ran forward and played a quick one-two with Raul Jimenez on the edge of the area before slotting the ball in at the corner for his second goal of the season.

Arsenal pushed forward in search of an equaliser but left themselves open much of the time, leading to numerous chances at both ends throughout the match.

Mkhitaryan finally managed to maintain the Gunners' unbeaten run - 16 games in all competitions - in the 86th minute, floating a shot in from long range to the bottom right corner past Wolves keeper Rui Patricio.

Wolves substitute Adama Traore very nearly won the match for the visitors in extra time, racing onto a long pass and outstripping defender Rob Holding with his pace, but he was only able to fire his shot into Arsenal keeper Bernd Leno's chest.

The result leaves Arsenal fifth in the league and three points behind north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur, while Wolves stayed 11th.