A penalty from Darren Bent sent Manchester City crashing to their first defeat of the season as they were beaten 1-0 by Sunderland at the Stadium of Light in the English Premier League on Sunday.
The defeat will raise questions over big-spending City’s title credentials and leaves them lying ninth in the table with four points from three games.
City had several chances to win the match, particularly in the first half through both Carlos Tevez and Yaya Toure, but after the break it was the home side who looked the more likely to break the deadlock.
But deep into second-half injury time, just when it looked as though the match would end goalless, City defender Micah Richards was adjudged to have climbed over Bent and the referee awarded a controversial penalty.
And the Sunderland striker himself stepped up to beat Joe Hart from the spot and give the home side their first win of the season.
At Anfield, Liverpool claimed their first win of the season with a hard-fought 1-0 win over promoted side West Bromwich Albion.
Fernando Torres secured the points with his first goal of the season. The Spanish striker expertly volleyed in Dirk Kuyt’s cross after 65 minutes.
The visitors had chances to score themselves but any hope they had evaporated when midfielder James Morrison was sent off for a late tackle on Torres in the final minutes.
Earlier on Sunday, ten man Bolton Wanderers fought back from 2-0 down to claim a 2-2 draw against Birmingham City at the Reebok Stadium.
A penalty from Kevin Davies and a superb free kick from Robbie Blake gained the home side a point after goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen had been sent off in the first half for an unnecessary slap on Roger Johnson.
It was Johnson who had earlier opened the scoring for Birmingham after just five minutes with a close range finish after build-up play from Lee Bowyer and Cameron Jerome.
And when Craig Gardner made it 2-0 shortly after half-time it appeared that Birmingham would take all three points before the home side’s comeback.
Sunday's late game saw Aston Villa beat Everton 1-0 thanks to a Luke Young goal in the first-half.
The home side’s winner came after just eight minutes as Young latched onto namesake Ashley’s superb pass and curled an excellent finish high into the Everton net from just inside the penalty area.
For large periods throughout the match it was Everton that were the better side and they came closest to equalizing midway through the first half as Steven Pienaar’s curled effort bounced back off the crossbar.
There were chances for both sides as the game opened up in the second half but Villa withstood several Everton attacks to claim all three points.
