A sparkling two-goal display by Carlos Tevez overshadowed a promising debut by Edin Dzeko as Manchester City claimed a nervy 4-3 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers to go top of the Premier League on Saturday. Dzeko, a 27 million pounds ($42.77 million) buy from VfL Wolfsburg, made a good first impression as City led 4-1 but they were hanging on at the end against the doughty visitors.
Chelsea struggled again but managed to beat Blackburn Rovers 2-0 at Stamford Bridge with second-half goals by Branislav Ivanovic and Nicolas Anelka. City's victory takes them back to the top on 45 points from 23 games, a point ahead of Manchester United, who visit Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday and have three games in hand.
Arsenal, who visit West Ham United later on Saturday (1730 GMT) are third on 40, Chelsea fourth on 38 and Spurs fifth on 36. Peter Odemwingie scored twice, including the winner three minutes from time, as West Bromwich Albion beat Blackpool 3-2, Stoke City beat Bolton Wanderers 2-0 while Wigan Athletic drew 1-1 at home with Fulham.
Wolves, who beat City at Molineux in October and have taken the scalps of Liverpool and Chelsea in recent weeks, again took the game to their big-name opponents and grabbed a deserved lead after 12 minutes when Nenad Milijas scored on the rebound. Dzeko showed a glimpse of the form that made him City's number one target in the transfer window as he set up Yaya Toure for a simple finish after 54 minutes.
Tevez headed the fourth after 66 before Wolves, who also hit the bar through Ronald Zubar, scored a second with a Kevin Doyle penalty after 68 minutes. Wolves, as they have all season, continued to battle and Zubar headed their third four minutes from time.
Chelsea have also looked a long way from title material in recent weeks. There was much speculation that Didier Drogba and Michael Essien would be rested after Daniel Sturridge and Josh McEachran impressed in last week's 7-0 FA Cup thrashing of Ipswich Town but both the experienced men started, along with Anelka. There was relief all round when the visitors failed to clear a corner and Ivanovic forced his low shot through a mass of players.
The defender looked to have got a second when he powered a header goalwards after 76 minutes but Anelka got enough of a touch to claim the goal. "We deserved it, we maintained good control for all the game but it was not easy because we took a long time to score the first goal," Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti told Sky Sports News.
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