London, Sep 29 (DPA) Carlos Tevez scored twice against his former side as Manchester City beat West Ham United 3-1 in the English Premiership.
City’s fifth victory of the season Monday lifts them within three points of joint leaders Manchester United and Chelsea with a game in hand.
“Some of the movement and rotation of positions and guys getting into positions to cause the opposition problems was a joy to see,” said manager Mark Hughes.
“In fairness, (Tevez) could have scored three or four. It was really difficult for West Ham to stop him having an impact on the game because of his movement and energy.”
Bulgarian winger Martin Petrov had a night to remember, scoring one and setting up another, starting in his first appearance of the season.
“I thought his quality tonight was exceptional,” said Hughes. “He was always an option.”
City dominated the early stages and took the lead after five minutes as Petrov crossed for Tevez to tap in.
The Argentinian, as a former West Ham player, made a point of not celebrating his first league goal for his new club.
“I think we didn’t play for the first 45 minutes, and when you play against teams like City and concede early, it’s very difficult to come back,” West Ham manager Gianfranco Zola said.
“I think we’re better than we’re showing right now.”
City continued to have much the better of the game, but West Ham levelled after 24 minutes with their first attack.
Radoslav Kovac mishit his shot, but Carlton Cole reacted sharply to flick it over the line. They were level for just eight minutes before Petrov bent home a free-kick.
City continued to control the game, while never looking entirely comfortable at the back, and went up 3-1 just after the hour as Tevez headed in a Craig Bellamy free-kick.
“We thought we could have defended better,” Bellamy said, “but we have a very good team, and we’ve started the Premier League very well.”
rounak