Aleksandar Kolarov inspires Manchester City to a 3-0 win over Sunderland

Manchester City climbed to second in the Premier League and ended Sunderland's unbeaten start to the season with a 3-0 romp at the Etihad Stadium.

Richards had made a surprise return from an ankle injury for injured captain Vincent Kompany, while Joleon Lescott was also restored to the defence. Toure took over as skipper, playing alongside Gareth Barry in midfield, while Tevez and Balotelli started up front. Sunderland had former City winger Johnson in their side hoping to make a point, but the England international was unable to make an impression. City took the lead after Tevez was crudely brought down by Cuellar on their first attack. The Argentinian had broken clear but was felled by a late tackle on the edge of the box and referee Lee Probert brandished the yellow card. The City supporters felt it should have been red but they did not complain for long as Kolarov stepped up to curl a superb free-kick past Mignolet at the near post. City went close to a second as a Tevez shot was deflected into Zabaleta's path but Mignolet - making amends for any fault on his part for Kolarov's goal - saved at point-blank range. Balotelli then did win a free-kick on the edge of the box after being caught in the face by Craig Gardner's boot. Kolarov took aim once again but his effort was deflected behind for a corner, perhaps with a suspicion of handball, by Sebastian Larsson. Balotelli curled an effort wide and felt he should have had another free-kick after clashing with John O'Shea. Barry drove wide as City continued to push and Sunderland's best efforts amounted to ineffective shots from James McClean and Fletcher. City started the second half well with Toure cutting inside and forcing Mignolet to palm over. A chance fell to Richards from the resulting corner and his shot at the second attempt was cleared off the line by Rose. Sunderland finally began to apply some pressure but a powerful header by Fletcher, which brought a fine save from Joe Hart, was ruled offside. Kolarov produced a fine tackle to deny Johnson a clear run on goal and that served to shake City back into life, a sliding Balotelli inches away from diverting a Kolarov cross towards goal. Richards then brought a good diving save out of Mignolet with a powerful header from a Milner cross. The second goal finally came as Aguero raced to the near post to turn in a vicious Kolarov ball from six yards. That effectively signalled the end for Sunderland but City wanted more for their dominance. Silva played in Tevez, who drove narrowly wide, and then roles were reversed as the Argentinian rounded Mignolet to set up the Spaniard, whose sublime chip hit the bar. Barry tried his luck but Gardner headed away before Richards again saw a chance blocked on the line in a crowded penalty area. Richards was wild with an attempted overhead kick moments later and Toure was narrowly off-target with a long-range effort. City threatened again after another slick move involving Richards, Aguero and Tevez but O'Shea managed to foil them. Yet they would not settle for two and Milner whipped in a free-kick from the left of the box which took a slight deflection off the head of Gardner to evade Mignolet's grasp.

Manchester City	Team Statistics	Sunderland
3	Goals	0
1	1st Half Goals	0
9	Shots on Target	4
12	Shots off Target	2
7	Blocked Shots	2
15	Corners	4
12	Fouls	11
2	Offsides	3
0	Yellow Cards	3
0	Red Cards	0
86.5	Passing Success	77.9
11	Tackles	17
81.8	Tackles Success	76.5
60.3	Possession	39.7
55.8	Territorial Advantage	44.2
527	Total Passes	340
27	Total Crosses	14
137	Lost Balls	134
49	Recoveries	27
56.7	1st Half Poss.	43.3
65	2nd Half Poss.	35