MANCHESTER City produced a 90th-minute winner to beat Crystal Palace 1-0 and secure a fifth consecutive victory from as many matches, while champion Chelsea slumped to a 3-1 defeat at Everton that sealed its worst start in the English Premier League (EPL).

    To round off a miserable day for Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, there were victories for two other title hopefuls.

    The most expensive teenager in soccer history, Anthony Martial, scored on his debut in Manchester United’s 3-1 win over Liverpool, and Arsenal comfortably beat Stoke 2-0.

    Martial, whose fee from Monaco could rise to 80 million euros (US$90 million), was not the only teenager to make headlines.

    City’s 18-year-old Kelechi Iheanacho came off the bench in the 89th and poked the ball into the Palace net a minute later. The Nigerian forward played competitively for City only once before, and that, too, was as an 89th-minute substitute, against Watford in August.

    There was more than just frustration, though, for Jose Mourinho after Chelsea was torn apart by hat-trick scorer Steven Naismith.

    Having gone on as a ninth-minute substitute for the injured Muhamed Besic, Naismith headed Everton into the lead and quickly scored his second with a low drive from outside the area.

    Nemanja Matic pulled a goal back for Chelsea with a long-distance effort before the break, but Naismith put the result beyond doubt by squeezing an angled shot through the legs of goalkeeper Asmir Begovic in the 82nd.

    Mourinho was defiant about his side’s latest result, and his own position.

    “I don’t think there is a better manager than me to come to Chelsea and to do my job. That’s so simple as that. I’m the man for the job,” he said.

    Chelsea was 11 points behind City, which was also reveling in a five-point lead over United and Arsenal.(SD-Agencies)