Carlos Tevez scored twice Saturday as Manchester City held off a furious comeback attempt to beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 4-3 to provisionally go atop the Premier League Standings.
Nenad Milijas put Wolves in front in the 12th minute, but City gradually took over completely to seize a seemingly commanding 4-1 lead by the 66th.
Kolo Toure scored the equalizer in the 40th and Tevez added his double after the break, either side of a goal by Yaya Toure.
But Wolves fought back immediately, with Kevin Doyle netting a penalty in the 68th and Ronald Zubar cut the deficit further in the 85th to ensure a nervous finish for the hosts.
City is now one point ahead of Manchester United, but with three more games played. United can reclaim the lead when it plays Tottenham on Sunday.
New signing Edin Dzeko made his debut for city, but was upstaged by his strike partner as Tevez joined United's Dimitar Berbatov as the league's leading scorer with 14.
Wolves had by far the better start and dominated for much of the first 30 minutes, having beaten City at home previously this season.
The opener came when Kolo Toure blasted a clearance into Vincent Kompany, the rebound dropping kindly for Nenad Milijas, who finished at the second attempt despite Joe Hart's initial save.
Hart denied Milijas shortly afterward when the Serbian powered a header towards goal. Steven Fletcher then picked out an unmarked Matt Jarvis at the far post, but his shot from 12 yards was blocked by Aleksandar Kolarov, who flung himself in the way.
It took the hosts some time to assert themselves, but after Adam Johnson had forced Wayne Hennessy into an excellent feet-first save, Tevez was only just wide with a fizzing shot, and Dzeko was denied by an excellent challenge by Zubar.
Kompany then got his head to a corner and flicked it towards the far post, where Kolo Toure controlled the ball fired a shot that beat Hennessy, bounced through David Jones' legs and eventually over the line.
Tevez then put City in front in the 48th after bursting through the passive presence of Christophe Berra and Stephen Hunt, then skipping inside Richard Stearman.
The third goal came after a neat one-two between Dzeko and Tevez just inside the Wolves half. The Bosnia striker then sent Yaya Toure clean through with a perfect through ball and the midfielder finished with clinical efficiency.
Dzeko came close to a debut goal when his deflected shot flew narrowly wide, but Tevez made it 4-1 with a header that bounced in via the underside of the crossbar.
Wolves pulled one back after Doyle had been bundled over by substitute Joleon Lescott, and Zubar then made sure it was a frantic finish.
