By dominating Norwich City, Manchester City retained its five-point Premier League lead on Manchester United today, with Tottenham another two points back. Here are five statistical notes from this Premier League Saturday.
• League leader Manchester City thrashed Norwich City 5-1 at Eastlands, as Samir Nasri opened the floodgates with a 51st-minute free-kick goal that bounced untouched into the net. Nasri's 43-yard strike is the longest Premier League goal of the season, surpassing Ryan Taylor's goal at Sunderland on Aug. 20.
• City's Yaya Toure completed 118 of 124 passes in that match, for an impressive 95 percent completion percentage. His passes attempted and passes completed are both the most by any player in a Premier League match over the last two seasons.
• Manchester City also completed 241 passes in the final third of the field, 48 of which were by Spanish midfielder David Silva. Those numbers are the most by any team or player in the Premier League over the last two seasons.
• Phil Jones scored his first career league goal for Manchester United, providing all the offense in a 1-0 win at Aston Villa. Perhaps more notably, Mexican forward Javier Hernández was injured and left the game via stretcher, wearing an air cast on his left ankle. Hernández would of course be a significant loss if he misses much time. Chicharito has 26 goals in all competitions since joining United before last season. Only Wayne Rooney, with 27, has scored more for the club in that span.
• In Blackburn's 4-2 win over Swansea City, Yakubu Aiyegbeni became the first Blackburn player to score four goals in a Premier League match, posting the club's first hat trick since Roque Santa Cruz four years ago. The Nigerian striker now has four career Premier League hat tricks, the most of any African player. Emmanuel Adebayor and Didier Drogba are next on the list with three Premier League hat tricks apiece.