MANCHESTER City surged to the top of the English Premier League (EPL) table with a comfortable 3-1 victory at struggling Watford on Saturday.

On a day when previous leader Chelsea faltered, City displayed total dominance in win at Watford that showed off the kind of fluid passing game that helped Pep Guardiola’s team win three of the last four league titles.

Bernardo Silva scored twice after Raheem Sterling’s early opener as City proved once again that it can do perfectly fine without a recognized striker in the lineup. It was a fifth straight league win for City, which is one point ahead of Liverpool and two in front of Chelsea after 15 rounds.

West Ham shook up the title race by beating Chelsea 3-2 at home in the early game, and Liverpool then needed an injury-time goal from Divock Origi to earn a 1-0 victory at Wolverhampton that put Jurgen Klopp’s team on top for a few hours.

City, though, was in front from the start in the late kickoff.

Sterling scored the opener in the fourth minute as City capitalized on a loose pass and Phil Foden crossed into the center for Sterling to head home unmarked. Silva then doubled the lead in the 31st by weaving past two defenders before slotting the ball past goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann.

City completely dominated the first half, with 81 percent possession, and could have added more goals before Silva got the third with a clever curled effort into the top corner in the 63rd.

Watford pulled one back through Cucho Hernandez, who followed up his own shot after it rebounded off a post, to deny Pep Guardiola’s side a ninth clean sheet of the season.

West Ham is proving quite the stumbling block for England’s top teams.

David Moyes’ team had already handed Liverpool its only loss of the league, beaten Tottenham, and knocked both Manchester clubs out of the League Cup. This win underlined the Hammers’ own top-four credentials, even though it required a fluke late goal to complete the comeback.

Arthur Masuaku swung a speculative 87th-minute cross in from the left wing, which veered toward goal and caught Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy by surprise. Mendy dove to keep the ball out but managed to push it only inside his near post.

Chelsea led twice through Thiago Silva’s header and a sublime volley from Mason Mount, but West Ham came back both times with a penalty from Manuel Lanzini and Jarrod Bowen’s low shot from the edge of the area.

Mendy was at fault for the penalty conceded as well, and manager Thomas Tuchel knows his team can’t afford many more slip-ups after dropping five points in their last three games, following a 1-1 draw with Manchester United last weekend.

(SD-Agencies)