City's 1-0 home loss to Stoke on Saturday was exacerbated by its title rival's wild victory at Goodison Park, in which Spain striker Diego Costa scored in the first and last minutes to continue the superb start to his Chelsea career.

Another big-money arrival in English football, Angel Di Maria, made a promising debut for Manchester United but its 0-0 draw at promoted Burnley left Louis van Gaal's side with just two points from three games '€” despite a spending spree of 130 million pounds ($215 million) this summer.

Chelsea has no such problems, with a third straight win leaving the team top of the early standings on goal difference from surprising Swansea.

In Costa, Chelsea also has arguably the standout player so far this season with four goals already since joining from Atletico Madrid.

"He's literally got everything," Chelsea captain John Terry said. "He's been brilliant, and he's off to a flying start."

With Costa in such electric form and Cesc Fabregas picking up two more assists, Chelsea has an attacking swagger it lacked last season.

"I want the team to play the way we did, to be positive," Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said. "We were killers in attack."

Goals by Costa '€” after just 34 seconds '€” and Branislav Ivanovic put Chelsea 2-0 ahead inside three minutes, only for Kevin Mirallas to reduce the deficit for Everton just before halftime.

Seamus Coleman's own goal in the 66th minute sparked a rush of five goals in a chaotic 11-minute spell during which both defenses were carved open to the dismay of the team's managers.

Steven Naismith made it 3-2, Nemanja Matic regained Chelsea's two-goal lead in the 74th but Everton came back again through Samuel Eto'o's header on his debut, against the club that released him in the summer. Ramires put Chelsea 5-3 ahead and Costa wrapped up a madcap second half with a low finish after a back-heel from substitute Didier Drogba.

In an all-action display, Costa was booked for a tussle with Coleman, and then goaded the defender provocatively after the right back's own goal '€” sparking a melee with Everton's American goalkeeper Tim Howard.

"There are certain players who come to the Premier League who need to understand the ethics and the culture," Everton manager Roberto Martinez said.

Swansea is tied on nine points with Chelsea after beating West Bromwich Albion 3-0 thanks to two goals from Nathan Dyer and another from Wayne Routledge.

Also Saturday, Wilfried Zaha scored an injury-time equalizer on his second debut for Crystal Palace in a 3-3 draw at Newcastle, Southampton won 3-1 at West Ham and Queens Park Rangers also earned a first win of the season by beating Sunderland 1-0.

City and United had hundreds of millions of pounds' worth of attacking talent on show in the third round of the Premier League but couldn't muster a goal between them.

A flat display by City, five days after its impressive 3-1 win over Liverpool, was punished when former United striker Mame Diouf ran 70 meters in the 58th minute in a solo effort that was capped by a finish between goalkeeper Joe Hart's legs.

"I tried just to stay on my feet and keep on going," Diouf said. "We will enjoy this win '€” it is a big one."

It was Stoke's first-ever goal at the Etihad and earned the team a first win of the season under Mark Hughes, the former City manager.

City failed to score at home for only the second time in 71 Premier League games, even with Argentina striker Sergio Aguero back in the lineup after regaining full fitness.

"It's a surprising defeat because we don't expect to lose against Stoke but these games sometimes happen," City manager Manuel Pellegrini said. "Really we were not very creative, we did not find the space and that is credit to Stoke."

Di Maria made his first start for United after his British-record move from Real Madrid for 59.7 million pounds ($99 million) and showed enough signs that he will be a success at Old Trafford.

He still couldn't inspire Van Gaal's team to a first win in any competition this season, with United lacking a cutting edge despite fielding Di Maria, Juan Mata, Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney in an exciting front four. Van Persie was denied twice with United's best chances.

"When you have two points, that is not good enough and that is disappointing," said Van Gaal, whose team lost 4-0 to third-tier MK Dons on Tuesday in the League Cup.

"At the moment it's certainly not a world-class team, but we have to wait, and have belief that it will come." (**)

Popular

Great Barrier Reef hit by record bleaching

Govt to undo latest curbs on personal imports

Middle East on edge as Israel and Iran trade threats