Jack Grealish scored his first goal for Manchester City as the Premier League champions thrashed Norwich 5-0, while title rivals Liverpool extended their perfect start with a 2-0 victory against Burnley on Saturday, according to AFP.
Grealish marked his home debut following his British record £100-million move from Aston Villa with a close-range effort to double City’s lead after Tim Krul’s own goal opened the floodgates at the Etihad.
Aymeric Laporte, Raheem Sterling and Riyad Mahrez netted in the second half to ensure City bounced back from last weekend’s defeat at Tottenham.
Despite Grealish making the perfect start on his home debut, it was Gabriel Jesus who caught the eye in an unfamiliar role on the right of a front three.
“One of the reasons why I’m a manager is when you can work with people like Gabriel,” said Guardiola.
“He was involved in three of our goals and is an incredibly important player for us.”
It was the Brazilian forward’s volleyed cross in the seventh minute that forced City’s opener as Grant Hanley attempted to clear but instead hit Norwich goalkeeper Krul as the ball looped into the net.
Jesus was the creator again on 22 minutes when his cross reached Grealish at the far post and bounced in off the England midfielder.
Laporte scored in the 64th minute with a close-range finish after Norwich failed to clear a corner.
Jesus provided his third assist of the afternoon as Sterling tapped in after 71 minutes before Mahrez grabbed City’s fifth with a simple finish in the 84th minute.
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