Man City bounce back after European debacle

MANCHESTER: City bounced back from defeats by Aston Villa and Bayern Munich to end Everton's unbeaten start to the season with a 3-1 win at the Etihad Stadium.

Everton took a 16th-minute lead through on-loan Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku, who broke the offside trap to collect Phil Jagielka's pass and deftly nutmegged Joleon Lescott before beating Joe Hart with a low shot.
It was his third goal in two games, following his brace against Newcastle United on Monday, but City replied within two minutes, Alvaro Negredo squeezing the ball past Tim Howard from Yaya Toure's fine reverse pass.

City were dealt a blow in the 34th minute when captain Vincent Kompany went off with an injury, but they moved ahead on the stroke of half-time.

David Silva strode forward and threaded a pass down the inside-right channel for Sergio Aguero, who rattled a low shot into the bottom-left corner.

A foul by Seamus Coleman on Pablo Zabaleta gave Aguero a chance to extend City's lead from the penalty spot in the 69th minute and although Howard turned his shot onto the post, the ball bounced against the American goalkeeper and into the net for an own goal. "Equalising immediately was important, but more important was the character of the team, playing against Everton -- the only unbeaten team in the league," said City manager Manuel Pellegrini. "After a defeat (by Bayern) on Wednesday, it was important for me to see how the players reacted." (AFP)