Manchester City once again find themselves co-leaders of the Premier League pack following a one-week blip, after defeating Everton 2-0 at home.

Second-half substitute Mario Balotelli put his not-so-private spat with manager Roberto Mancini behind him as he ran to the sidelines and hugged his fellow Italian after scoring his first goal of the season in the 68th minute. His shot from outside the box deflected off of Everton's Tim Cahill and past goalkeeper Tim Howard.

City's James Milner added a late second goal to put the game away in the 89th minute. The match was a physical affair, with five Everton players receiving yellow cards, compared to City's one, a stat that upset Everton manager David Moyes.

"Overall, we found the way the officials treated us really difficult to take," Moyes told the BBC.  He also felt Vincent Kompany's hard tackle on Tim Cahill was malicious, despite referee Howard Webb's decision not to book the City defender. "The boy does him," Moyes continued. "He definitely sees his shin going in and stands on it. People who have been players know what I am talking about."

Manchester United were denied a win at Stoke City after the Potters' new signing Peter Crouch leveled the match in the 52nd minute. The 6-foot-7-inch striker leaped above the United defense to head home Matthew Etherington's corner. United were without Wayne Rooney, who was suffering from a hamstring injury. The club website labeled Rooney's injury "not serious."

Other matches:

-- Arsenal bounced back from their defeat to Blackburn last week with a 3-0 win at home to Bolton, as Robin Van Persie netted his 99th and 100th goals for the club. Bolton now sit dead last in the league in 20th place. Persle's manager, Arsene Wenger, could feel relieved after the win, yet was forced to answer more transfer questions from the media after reports surfaced that his star striker was yet to sign a contract extension.

"Now [Van Persie] is out? No, I don't think that really. Robin is not from Barcelona," Wenger joked, referencing his former Captain Cesc Fabregas' departure in August. The Dutch ace has two years left on his contract, but after a tumultuous summer, Arsenal fans have reason to feel nervous.

-- Chelsea beat Swansea 4-1 at Stamford Bridge, despite seeing Fernando Torres (seen left) red-carded in the 32nd minute for a two-footed challenge on Mark Gower after scoring the opening goal only three minutes earlier.

-- Tottenham won 2-1 away to Wigan thanks to goals from Rafael Van der Vaart and Gareth Bale. Spurs have now won three games in a row after losing to Manchester United and Manchester City to start the season.

-- Liverpool defeated Wolverhampton 2-1 at Anfield, and were aided by the visitors when Roger Johnson scored own-goal in the 11th minute. Luis Suarez nabbed the winner in the 38th minute before Steven Fletcher got one back for Wolves early in the second half.

-- Demba Ba netted a hat trick for Newcastle as they beat Blackburn 3-1 at home.

-- West Brom could only manage a 0-0 draw home to Fulham, while Queen's Park Rangers climbed to 9th in the table following a 1-1 draw with Aston Villa at Loftus Road in London. QPR are now tied on points with Villa, who sit one place above them due to a superior goal differential.

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