Man City continued their impressive start to the season with a 3-2 win over Bolton that catapulted them back to the top of the Premier League.
Silva, Barry and Dzeko on target in 3-2 victory at Reebok
Manchester City continued their impressive start to the season with a 3-2 win over Bolton at the Reebok Stadium that catapulted them back to the top of the Premier League.
The two teams had shared first place after opening-game 4-0 victories but City proved too strong for their spirited opponents as Roberto Mancini's side produced another sparkling display that suggested they will play more to their attacking strengths this term.
Record signing Sergio Aguero was handed a first start after making such a stunning impact off the substitutes' bench against Swansea, but he showed he was fallible with a bad miss inside the opening 20 minutes.
If that left Aguero feeling slightly embarrassed, Bolton goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen was positively blushing just a few minutes later as David Silva opened the scoring with a shot from distance that should have been saved comfortably.
Gareth Barry doubled City's advantage on 37 minutes with a stunning strike into the top corner from 30 yards, only for Ivan Klasnic to smash home a Martin Petrov cross at the other end and reduce Bolton's arrears almost immediately.
Edin Dzeko provided further evidence that he is coming to terms with life in the Premier League as he skilfully fired City into a 3-1 lead at the start of the second half, but Bolton kept fighting and Kevin Davies headed them back into the game just after the hour mark.
Aguero was then replaced by wantaway striker Carlos Tevez, but there was no change to the scoreline during a frenetic finale as City held firm to make it six points out of six.
Incisive
Bolton had been eager to stamp their mark on the game early on but as well as being firm in the tackle they were also troubling City with the speed of their attacks.
Chris Eagles tested Joe Hart with a curling free-kick from 25 yards inside four minutes while Zat Knight shot just past the post after a corner rebounded to him.
City's first incisive attack could have brought the first goal with 15 minutes gone as Silva and Aleksandar Kolarov combined to set up James Milner but Jaaskelainen was out smartly and pulled off a good stop.
Aguero was then badly off target as he turned Dzeko's cross over the bar from 10 yards out.
With 25 minutes gone, City did take the lead, although only Jaaskelainen will know how Silva's dipping effort from 20 yards evaded his clutches.
City thought they had scored a second five minutes later when Micah Richards crossed for Aguero to tuck away only for referee Mike Jones to penalise the full-back for a nudge on Petrov.
Mancini's side were certainly bossing things now, though, and Aguero missed another very presentable chance, heading wide from a cross by the impressive Dzeko.
Bolton were struggling to cope and they were two down with eight minutes to go in the first half through a goal of real quality from Barry, who gave Jaaskelainen no chance with a drive into the top corner from outside the area.
Adventurous
However, Bolton grabbed an unlikely foothold in the game less than two minutes later when a cross from former City winger Petrov was tucked away neatly by Klasnic.
What Bolton needed was a good start to the second half but they got exactly the opposite as Dzeko seized on a flick from Milner before holding off Knight and drilling a shot past Jaaskelainen less than two minutes after the resumption.
It was no less than the Bosnian deserved for his impressive all-round display and City continued to pour forward, with the adventurous Kolarov seeing a shot deflected wide.
However, just when it was beginning to look like a case of how many City would score, Bolton found the net again courtesy of a trademark Davies header from Petrov's free-kick in the 62nd minute.
The one player who was not really impressing for City was Aguero and with 22 minutes to go he was replaced by Tevez, who received a rapturous reception from the visiting fans despite his wish to leave the club.
City threatened again as Silva, who had been at the heart of all their best play, saw a close-range shot brilliantly blocked by Knight while substitute Adam Johnson jinked his way into the Bolton box but pulled his shot just wide of the far post.
Tevez had been very quiet since coming on and it took until injury time for a flash of his talents as he ran purposefully into the box but the eventual shot was weak.
| Bolton Wanderers |
Team Statistics |
Manchester City |
| 2 |
Goals |
3 |
| 1 |
1st Half Goals |
2 |
| 3 |
Shots on Target |
7 |
| 2 |
Shots off Target |
8 |
| 2 |
Blocked Shots |
3 |
| 7 |
Corners |
8 |
| 19 |
Fouls |
17 |
| 2 |
Offsides |
4 |
| 2 |
Yellow Cards |
0 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 71.3 |
Passing Success |
82.5 |
| 20 |
Tackles |
9 |
| 80 |
Tackles Success |
88.9 |
| 42.6 |
Possession |
57.4 |
| 51 |
Territorial Advantage |
49 |
|
