Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge tore Crystal
Palace apart to send Liverpool top of the
Premier League with a 3-1 victory on Saturday
as Manchester City bounced back from their
Bayern Munich mauling by beating Everton
3-1.
Suarez, making his first Anfield appearance of
the season after completing a suspension for
biting an opponent, set Liverpool on their way
to their fifth league win with an early
improvised finish.
England forward Sturridge, who has now
scored or assisted 16 goals in his last 11
league appearances, made it two with a fine
solo goal and Steven Gerrard added a penalty -
his 99th league goal - before halftime against
struggling Palace.
In the early kickoff at the Etihad Stadium,
Alvaro Negredo and Sergio Aguero scored to
help City come from behind to beat Everton,
easing the disappointment of their home
defeat by Bayern in the Champions League on
Wednesday.
French striker Loic Remy gave Newcastle
United's under-pressure manager Alan Pardew
some relief by netting twice in a 2-1 victory at
Cardiff City.
Fulham did the same for manager Martin Jol,
edging past Stoke City 1-0 with Darren Bent's
83rd-minute winner, while Hull City and Aston
Villa played out a goalless draw at the KC
Stadium.
Champions Manchester United will be aiming
to avoid a third successive league defeat when
they face Sunderland in Saturday's late kickoff.
Liverpool lead the way with 16 points, one
ahead of Arsenal and three in front of City and
Tottenham Hotspur. Everton dropped to fifth
with 12 points.
Arsenal, Tottenham and Chelsea, who are sixth,
all play on Sunday.
SLIDING HOME
Suarez, who went on the pitch ahead of kickoff
at Anfield cradling his new-born son Benjamin,
put Liverpool in front on 13 minutes, receiving
Jose Enrique's cutback and sliding home a
finish despite lying on the turf after losing his
balance.
It was his second goal in as many games in the
wake of his suspension for biting Chelsea's
Branislav Ivanovic last season.
Four minutes later Sturridge toyed with Palace
defender Damien Delaney before firing a shot
across goal and past keeper Julian Speroni.
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers told the
BBC: "(Suarez and Sturridge) were exceptional
today. Their combination play was outstanding
and they are right up there with the best in
this league."
Gerrard converted from the spot in the 38th
minute after Dean Moxey had held back
Raheem Sterling.
Palace fans might have been fearing a repeat
of their 9-0 defeat at Anfield in 1989 but
Victor Moses hit the post and the home side
spurned several other chances to increase
manager Ian Holloway's troubles.
The travelling support even had something to
cheer late on when Dwight Gayle nodded a
77th-minute consolation.
City manager Manuel Pelligrini showed faith in
Joe Hart despite the England keeper's costly
mistakes in the Bayern defeat.
Yet Hart tested his manager's patience again as
City went one down after 16 minutes.
The keeper got a hand to Everton striker
Romelu Lukaku's low left-foot shot but it was
not strong enough and the ball kicked up off
the surface and high into the net.
It took just a minute for City to find an
equaliser, Yaya Toure working an angle on the
edge of the box to find Negredo's run and the
Spaniard slipping his shot beneath keeper Tim
Howard.
The goal lifted City. Aguero wasted a simple
chance from six metres but he made amends
just before the interval.
David Silva fed the Argentine on the right of
the area and the striker worked a metre of
space before shooting low past Howard into
the far corner.
City got their third when Pablo Zabaleta was
impeded by Seamus Coleman and Howard
tipped Aguero's penalty on to the post only for
the ball to bounce back, hit the keeper on the
head and roll into the net for an own goal.
'FOOTBALL DISASTER'
Pellegrini told BT Sport: "Equalising
immediately was important but more
important was the character of the team ...
After the defeat on Wednesday it was
important for me to see how the players
reacted."
Everton manager Roberto Martinez,
contemplating his side's first league defeat of
the season, said: "I thought the penalty
awarded is a football disaster.
"(Referee) Jon Moss needs to watch it again
and see why he gave it. If you are going to give
a penalty for that it is going to make the game
very difficult."
In Cardiff, two well-taken Remy strikes put
Newcastle in control by halftime.
First he rifled home after collecting possession
40 metres out in the 30th minute and eight
minutes later Remy put away the rebound
after Papiss Cisse's shot had been saved.
But Pardew and Newcastle were left sweating
on the three points after Peter Odemwingie
pulled one back for Cardiff on 58 minutes.
Bent's intervention at Craven Cottage - after
Stoke had dominated much of the contest -
gave Fulham their first win at home since April
and lifted Jol's team out of the bottom three.
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