By Fitzgerald Cecilio

Manchester City, England

Edin Dzeko and Carlos Tevez scored a goal apiece in the second half to lead defending champion Manchester City to a 3-1 victory over a tough Queens Park Rangers side Saturday at Etihad Stadium.

City now has seven points from two wins and a draw, good for a second-place tie with Swansea and West Brom while Queens Park dropped to second-to-last in the standings with its second loss in three games.

The defending Premier League champion looked poised to dominate the game as Yaya Toure scored in the 16th minute with a goal from center of the penalty area after the ball was diverted directly into his path after a miss by Tevez.

Queens Park recovered in the second half and tied the game with a header by forward Bobby Zamora from a miss by Andrew Johnson in the 59th minute, leaving the home crowd stunned.

Two minutes later, Dzeko restored the lead for City with a five-yard header from a cross by Tevez, who sealed the final count with a goal in injury time.

City played without still striker Sergio Aguero and midfielder Gareth Barry. Aguero is likely to be out until mid-September with a knee injury while Barry might still be three or four weeks away from a return from an abdominal injury despite a recent reserves outing.

Meanwhile, West Ham United scored its second win in three games with a comfortable 3-0 win over Fulham at Upton Park.

Captain Kevin Nolan opened the scoring for West Ham in the opening minute before Winston Reid and Matt Taylor put the game away with goals in the 29th and 41st minute, respectively to hand Fulham its second defeat in three outings.

In other games, Swansea and Sunderland battled to a 2-2 draw while Tottenham and Norwich ended up in a 1-1 tie. West Brom blanked Everton, 2-0 and Wigan tied Stoke, 2-2.

 

Manchester City Crushes Queens Park Rangers