Manchester City Scores Early in Easy Win Over Sunderland Manchester City turned on the style Saturday, easing to a 3-0 victory over visiting Sunderland that lifted the team to second place in England's Premier League. Aleksandar Kolarov scored from a free kick after five minutes, and Sergio Agüero and James Milner added goals in the second half to secure a convincing win. By ending Sunderland's unbeaten start, City maintained its own and won consecutive league matches for the first time this season. "We played very well and took no risks," City Manager Roberto Mancini told Sky Sports television. The team rediscovered its defensive solidity even without its back-line linchpin and captain, Vincent Kompany, who was out with a calf injury. Micah Richards made a surprise return from an ankle injury, and Joleon Lescott was also restored to the defense. Yaya Touré took over as captain, playing alongside Gareth Barry in the midfield, while Carlos Tévez and Mario Balotelli started up front. Sunderland had the former City wing Adam Johnson in its lineup, but he was unable to make an impression. City took the lead after Tévez was brought down by Carlos Cuéllar on the first attack. Tévez had broken clear but was felled by a late tackle on the edge of the box, and the referee Lee Probert gave Cuéllar a yellow card. The City fans felt it should have been red, but they could not complain for long: Kolarov curled a superb free kick past goalkeeper Simon Mignolet at the near post. Not for the first time, Balotelli was earmarked for some testing treatment by defenders. CHELSEA WINS AMID FALLOUT Embroiled in controversy off the field but full of confidence on it, Chelsea strengthened its grip on the Premier League by beating visiting Norwich, 4-1, as the fallout from a yearlong racism case persisted. Chelsea's best start to a season in seven years has been overshadowed with its captain, John Terry, being punished for racially abusing an opponent and defender Ashley Cole inflaming the outrage with a Twitter outburst that is now subject to disciplinary action by his club. "I think the results are telling us that we are able to blank things out that are surrounding us generally, and we can focus on what is our aim, our target and job - to win football games," Chelsea Manager Roberto Di Matteo said. So it shows how professional we are, how we respond to it. Chelsea fell behind to winless Norwich in the 11th minute, but Fernando Torres scored in the 14th. Frank Lampard then put Chelsea ahead in the 22nd. Chelsea is now 4 points ahead of Manchester City in the Premier League. Everton slipped to third after being held to a 2-2 draw by Wigan, while West Bromwich Albion maintained its strong start with a 3-2 victory over last-place Queens Park Rangers. Swansea recovered from two goals down to tie Reading, 2-2. BAYERN CRUISES Bayern Munich beat Hoffenheim, 2-0, in Frankfurt for its seventh straight Bundesliga victory, with Franck Ribéry scoring both goals. Bayern maintained its perfect start to the domestic season and bounced back from a Champions League loss at BATE Borisov on Tuesday.