City took full advantage of the Red Devils' 1-1 draw as they beat Aston Villa 4-1 at Etihad Stadium.

A first-half bicycle kick from Mario Balotelli was followed by goals from Adam Johnson, Vincent Kompany and James Milner as City ran riot at home.

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard marked his first start of the season for his club with a controversial goal in the pulsating match against their arch rivals.

Gerrard's team-mate Charlie Adam went on a run from deep that caused trouble for the visitors' defence and it was up to Rio Ferdinand to halt it.

A clip to the left heel of Adam was enough to bring down the Scottish international and set up a free kick on the edge of the penalty area.

Ferdinand was furious with the seemingly clear decision until replays illustrated that little, if any contact was made.

Gerrard's curling low shot in the 68th minute towards the wall saw Ryan Giggs jump out of the way and the resulting gap allowed the ball to beat David de Gea.

But it was Manchester United's Javier Hernandez who equalised in a game which saw Wayne Rooney start on the bench following his red card for England in Montenegro.

Chelsea cruised to a comfortable 3-1 win over Everton at Stamford Bridge despite never moving out of first gear.

Goals to Daniel Sturridge, John Terry and Ramires extended the Blues' run of home victories to four.

Bolton recorded their first win since the opening day of the season beating local rivals Wigan Athletic 3-1 at the DW Stadium.

An own goal from Gary Caldwell was cancelled out by a wonder strike from Mohamed Diame but it was David Ngog and Chris Eagles who earned them all three points.

A Christopher Samba header earned Blackburn Rovers a point against QPR although they remain bottom of the table.

Neil Warnock's men are still looking for their first home win of the season, after Samba's first-half effort was enough to cancel out Heidar Helguson's strike just after the quarter-of-an-hour mark to ensure the 1-1 draw.

Late goals from Jonathan Walters and Rory Delap secured a 2-0 victory for Stoke City in a drab encounter against Fulham.

After a dire first half, Walters first tapped in from three yards after he converted a cross-shot from Matthew Etherington.

In a final 10 minutes to forget for Fulham, Delap was then allowed to head in unopposed to secure the three points for the hosts.

Anthony Pilkington's double fired Norwich City to a convincing 3-1 home win over Swansea City.

The match was the first meeting between any of the Premier League's newly promoted sides and Norwich backed up their standing as the highest placed of the three with a fine performance.