City still on track with big Villa win

MANCHESTER City is back to second in the English Premier League while Christian Pulisic made the most of a rare Chelsea start to bag a hat-trick in yesterday’s action.

City overcame a sluggish first half to beat Aston Villa 3-0 and move above Leicester, which jumped them in the table with a 9-0 thrashing of Southampton on Saturday.

Pulisic, meanwhile, scored his first three Chelsea goals in a 4-2 victory at Burnley.

The win pulls Man City within three points of Liverpool, which hosted Tottenham overnight, with Chelsea five points back of the leaders in fourth.

City manager Pep Guardiola said his side played far better in the second half.

“In the first half we played football but we did not play football in the way we should play,” he said.

“In the second half we were better. I don’t know if the early goal helped us do that but after that we played how we normally play.”

After a frustrating first half, Sterling needed just 20 seconds after the restart to give City the lead at Etihad Stadium. Silva doubled the lead in the 65th minute by getting the slightest of touches to Kevin De Bruyne’s ball into the area and Guendogan followed with a half-volley five minutes later.

City then finished with 10 men after Fernandinho was shown a second yellow card in the 87th minute.

Pulisic, who has struggled to earn a place in the team since signing from Borussia Dortmund this year, led the way as Chelsea made it seven straight wins overall.

“What a day for me, I’m really happy with the result,” the American told Sky Sports.

Meanwhile, Watford matched its club record of 10 games to start a season without winning after a goalless draw with Bournemouth.