LONDON - Manchester City went top of the Premier League after securing a controversial 2-0 win at Newcastle United yesterday with an early Edin Dzeko goal and a stoppage-time effort from Alvaro Negredo.

Liverpool also won away with an astonishing 5-3 victory at Stoke City. The results lifted City to the top of the Premier League on 47 points, two clear of Arsenal who will return to the summit if they win at Aston Villa today. The outcome could have been very different at St James' Park if a stunning 34th-minute volley from Newcastle's Cheick Tiote had not been disallowed after a contentious decision by referee Mike Jones. An eight-goal thriller at Stoke ended with Liverpool winning with two goals from Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez. An own goal from Ryan Shawcross, a penalty from Steven Gerrard and a fine individual goal from substitute Daniel Sturridge completed Liverpool's scoring.

Stoke's goals came from Peter Crouch and Charlie Adam, and Jon Walters.