Manchester City 3-0 Liverpool: Blues Run Over Reds

Manchester City made a big statement in its quest to be one of the big boys in the Premier League with a resounding 3-0 win over Liverpool Monday night. Carlos Tevez scored two goals in the second half, one from the spot, to add to Gareth Barry's 13th minute opener as the Blues dominated the game from the first kick.

City controlled the ball throughout and were most importantly much more creative in the final third of the pitch. Fernando Torres made his first start of the season for the Reds, but still looked to be lacking match fitness and was eventually substituted for Ryan Babel in the 78th minute.

Despite getting the lead so early, City didn't trouble Pepe Reina much the rest of the first half, but they kept the ball well and prevented Liverpool from getting into any sort of rhythm.

Barry opened the scoring with an easy tap-in after linking up well with his former Aston Villa teammate James Milner. The second goal came just after the restart when Liverpool was having some of its best possession. Micah Richards easily won a header from a corner against Liverpool's man-to-man marking, and Tevez got the slightest of touches to put it over the line.

The second goal woke up both teams and both sets of fans. Liverpool could've been right back in it a few minutes later had it not been for Joe Hart, who is looking very much like England's hope for 2012 and beyond. He pulled off a phenomenal double save to keep out close-range efforts from both N'gog and Torres to maintain City's lead.

The game was all over in the 67th minute when Martin Skrtel, who had been booked in the first five minutes, tripped up Adam Johnson in the box, and Tevez sent Pepe Reina the wrong way.

Gerrard was Liverpool's only standout player on the night while Roberto Mancini has too many players who stood out to fit into his squad each week. It's still too early in the season to write Liverpool out of the top four or to call City real title contenders, but the optimism Roy Hodgson brought with him to Anfield is fading quickly now. On the other hand, Mancini's problems seem much less daunting at this point.