EPL Gameweek 5: Manchester City demolish Manchester United 4-1 as Arsenal and Spurs reach the top of the table

Per Mertesacker of Arsenal celebrates victory after the Barclays Premier League match between Arsenal and Stoke City at Emirates Stadium on September 22, 2013 in London, England.

Manchester City vs Manchester United (4-1):Red Devils were blown apart at the Etihad Stadium by Manchester City, who came out runaway winners netting four goals past a hapless David de Gea. Sergio Aguero, bagging a double, looked in sublime touch, in what could be a welcome news for the Citizens.

Yaya Toure and Samir Nasri got their names on the scoring sheet to help Manchester City reach the second spot in the points table. Wayne Rooney grabbed a late consolation with a gorgeous free kick that gave Joe Hart absolutely no chance.

Arsenal vs Stoke City (3-1):Mesut Ozil shone in his second successive Premier League appearance as he played a part in all of Arsenal’s goals in the 3-1 victory against Stoke City at the Emirates stadium.

Aaron Ramsey continued his goal-scoring form while Per Mertesacker and Bacary Sagna were the other players who benefited as a result of Ozil’s influential performance. Ramsey’s seventh goal in as many matches for the Gunners’ this season was soon cancelled out by Geoff Cameron in the 26th minute. But the Wenger’s side were relentless in their attack as they reaped benefits for their efforts against the impressive Potters.

Mark Hughes’s side had troubles in seeing off set-pieces which the Gunners’ made complete use of, thanks to the former Real Madrid midfielder.

Crystal Palace vs Swansea (0-2):Goals from Michu and Nathan Dyer helped Swansea register a comfortable win over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. Michu, back at his best after a lacklustre start to the season, gave the Swans an early lead with a goal in the second minute of the game.

Laudrup made five changes to his side as Ashley Williams, Ben Davies, Jonjo Shelvey, Wayne Routledge and Alvaro Vazquez replaced Jordi Amat, Dwight Tiandelli, Jonathan De Guzman, Alejandro Pozuelo and Wilfried Bony.

As soon as the second half resumed, Dyer tapped home a loose ball to double Swansea’s lead.

Swans were pretty much in control of the game and it would not be unfair to say that the visitors probably deserved more goals with debutant Vazquez himself missing a couple of really good opportunities to add to Swansea’s tally. Ian Holloway has some serious soul searching to do as Crystal Palace slumped to fourth defeat in their fifth match of the season.

Cardiff City vs Tottenham Hotspurs(0-1):

Paulinho’s 93rd minute winner gave the Spurs their fourth win in five matches and ended Cardiff City’s unbeaten streak at home. Most importantly it also got them on level with Arsenal at the top of the table.

Cardiff goalkeeper David Marshall had been excellent till then, denying Spurs a number of times. Just seconds before the final whistle, Erik Lamela found Paulinho with a perfectly placed pass. The Brazilian international, who saw his effort being saved minutes before, did not err in putting that through.

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