A brace of goals from Stevan Jovetic helped Manchester City to begin their home Premier League campaign with a 3-1 victory over Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium this evening.
The visitors saw plenty of the possession during the opening 45 minutes, but it was City that carved out the better chances.
First to try his luck early on was Edin Dzeko in the seventh minute, only for the Bosnian to shoot wide from the edge of the area, while full-back Pablo Zabaleta volleyed over from a tight angle eight minutes later.
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Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers had given a debut to Spanish left-back Alberto Moreno and while he had looked an asset in attacking sense, he was at fault as City finally converted a chance in the 41st minute. The 22-year-old reacted slowly to a loose ball inside the area, which allowed Jovetic to pounce and with just Simon Mignolet to beat, the Montenegrin drilled a shot through the goalkeeper's legs.
The away side returned after the restart with some vigour about their play and they actually had the ball in the net in the 49th minute through Daniel Sturridge, but the England frontman was adjudged to have been in an offside position by the referee's assistant.
It was a decision that would have an even greater impact on Liverpool in the 55th minute as Jovetic claimed his second goal of the evening. The striker exchanged passes with Samir Nasri, before his scuffed shot from 12 yards out managed to get the better of Mignolet and Glen Johnson on the line.
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The encounter was then put out of Liverpool's reach with 69 minutes played thanks to Sergio Aguero, who had only been on the pitch for 23 seconds when he slipped in on the blindside of Dejan Lovren and then slotted his effort inside Mignolet's near post.
There was still time for Liverpool to trouble the scoresheet, though, thanks to substitute Rickie Lambert, who bundled in a cross from Sturridge at the back post for what was his first goal for the club. He then had a chance to score a second just a few moments later, but instead of shooting when well placed, he opted to pass and Vincent Kompany was able to clear the danger.
It would prove to the final meaningful attack of the game from either side as City saw out the final few minutes to claim all three points.
Liam Apicella
