Chelsea’s Diego Costa continued his stunning start to life in the Premier League with a hat-trick in a 4-2 comeback win over Swansea City yesterday that left champions Manchester City staring up the table after a 2-2 draw at Arsenal.

Costa, who now has seven goals from his first four league games, helped Chelsea come out on top against the only other team with a 100 per cent record, after Swansea had taken the lead with an early own goal from John Terry.

New signing Loic Remy grabbed his first Chelsea goal before Jonjo Shelvey netted a consolation late on, leaving the west London side two points clear at the top and five ahead of Manchester City.

City’s Martin Demichelis scored with a late looping header for the champions after moments of sublime skill from Jack Wilshere and Alexis Sanchez had briefly turned the match in Arsenal’s favour, following Sergio Aguero’s opener.

Newcastle United’s sorry start to the season continued with a crushing 4-0 defeat at Southampton.

Leicester City grabbed their first win since sealing promotion, beating Stoke City 1-0, while Burnley and Crystal Palace played out a goalless draw.

Chelsea fans probably did not need reminding just how big an upgrade Costa was on his predecessor Fernando Torres, but just in case any doubts remained about their new striker’s pedigree, they were emphatically dismissed against Swansea.

Trailing to a Terry own goal after 11 minutes, Costa set about Swansea like a one-man wrecking ball, powering home a header on the stroke of half-time, converting a Cesc Fabregas cross after the restart and then guiding a Ramires shot home.

Remy swept the ball into the net unmarked on the edge of the area to make it 4-1, having only been on the pitch a matter of minutes to add a touch of gloss to the result.

Shelvey grabbed a late consolation of little significance, except perhaps to Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho who values a water-tight defence and will not be impressed by his team conceding a fifth goal in two games after their 6-3 win at Everton two weeks ago.

Arsenal handed a debut to striker Danny Welbeck, who had an early chance to score when he raced on to a misplaced pass from David Silva and attempted an audacious chip over keeper Joe Hart which struck the inside of the post.

If the former Manchester United forward wanted a lesson in ruthlessness, it was provided by others on the pitch.

City’s Aguero opened the scoring with a tidy sidefoot, Wilshere levelled in the second half with a beautiful run into the box and, not to be out-done, close-season signing Sanchez let fly with a perfectly-timed sidefoot volley.

It would have been a worthy match-winner in comparison to Demichelis’s 83rd minute leveller that looked like it would be headed off the line until Arsenal keeper Wojciech Szczesny got a hand to it and deflected it into the top corner.

“I am satisfied because I thought this year it would be very difficult for us to defend our title,” said City manager Manuel Pellegrini, before lambasting referee Mark Clattenburg for his performance.

Newcastle’s woes intensified as they were left at the foot of the standings following a 4-0 defeat at Southampton that heaped pressure on manager Alan Pardew.

Graziano Pelle scored twice inside 19 minutes, Jack Cork added another after the break and Morgan Schneiderlin capped an impressive Southampton performance with a goal at the death.

Tottenham led going into the final eight minutes against Sunderland before a Harry Kane own goal gave the home side their third draw in their opening four games.

Villa shock Reds

If Liverpool needed any reminder how tough life will be without last season’s two leading goalscorers, it was provided by Aston Villa.

Paul Lambert’s side grabbed an early lead in the Premier League late kick-off through Gabriel Agbonlahor and then clung on for a 1-0 success as their hosts struggled to create clear-cut chances.

With Daniel Sturridge sidelined for up to three weeks with a thigh injury it meant Liverpool started a game without him or Luis Suarez, a summer departure to Barcelona, for the first time since December 2012.

Last season the pair scored 56 league goals between them so it was immediately apparent where the Reds were most likely to be under the greatest strain.

The closest Liverpool came was when Philippe Coutinho bent a shot around goalkeeper Brad Guzan only for it to rebound back off the post as Villa left Anfield having taken their tally to eight points from their last four visits.

Results and standings

Premier League

Arsenal 2
Wilshere 63; Sanchez 74;
Man. City 2
Aguero 28; De Michelis 83;

HT: 0-1. Att: 60,003.

Chelsea 4
Costa 44, 55, 67; Remy 81;
Swansea City 2
Terry 11og; Shelvey 86;

HT: 1-1. Att: 41,400.

C. Palace 0
Burnley 0

Att: 23,829.
Missed penalty: Arfield (B) 85.

Liverpool 0
Aston Villa 1
Agbonlahor 9;

HT: 0-1. Att: 44,689.

S’thampton 4
Pelle 6, 19; Cork 54; Schneiderlin 90;
Newcastle 0

HT: 2-0. Att: 30,000.

Stoke City 0
Leicester City 1
Ulloa 64;

HT: 0-0. Att: 27,500.

Sunderland 2
Johnson 4; Kane 82og;
Tottenham 2
Chadli 2; Eriksen 48;

HT: 1-1. Att: 40,799.

West Brom 0
Everton 2
Lukaku 2; Mirallas 66;

HT: 0-1. Att: 23,567.

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Chelsea	4	4	0	0	15	6	12
Aston Villa	4	3	1	0	4	1	10
Swansea	4	3	0	1	8	5	9
Southampton	4	2	1	1	8	3	7
Man. City	4	2	1	1	7	4	7
Tottenham	4	2	1	1	7	5	7
Arsenal	4	1	3	0	7	6	6
Liverpool	4	2	0	2	6	5	6
Everton	4	1	2	1	9	10	5
Leicester	4	1	2	1	4	5	5
Hull City	3	1	1	1	3	3	4
Stoke City	4	1	1	2	2	3	4
Sunderland	4	0	3	1	5	6	3
West Ham	3	1	0	2	4	5	3
QPR	3	1	0	2	1	5	3
Man. United	3	0	2	1	2	3	2
C. Palace	4	0	2	2	5	8	2
Burnley	4	0	2	2	1	4	2
WestBrom	4	0	2	2	2	7	2
Newcastle	4	0	2	2	3	9	2

Playing today
Man. United vs QPR - 17:00

Tomorrow
Hull City vs West Ham - 21:00

Next fixtures

Saturday: 13.45 QPR vs Stoke. 16.00 Aston Villa vs Arsenal; Burnley vs Sunderland; Newcastle United vs Hull City; Swansea City vs Southampton. 18.30 West Ham vs Liverpool.
Sunday: 14.30 Leicester City vs Manchester United; Tottenham vs West Brom. 17.00 Everton vs C. Palace; Manchester City vs Chelsea.

The Championship
Birmingham 1 - Leeds 1
Blackburn 3 - Wigan 1
Blackpool 0 - Wolves 0
Bolton 0 - Sheffield Wed. 0
Bournemouth 1 - Rotherham 1
Brentford 3 - Brighton 2
Cardiff City 2 - Norwich City 4
Charlton 1 - Watford 0
Huddersfield 1 - M’boro 2
Ipswich Town 2 - Millwall 0
Reading 3 - Fulham 0
N. Forest vs Derby - today, 14:15

Standings: Nottm Forest, Norwich, Wolves 13; Watford, Charlton 12; Brentford 11; Millwall, Blacburn Rovers, Reading 10; M’Boro, Sheffield Wednesday 9; Derby, Bournemouth, Ipswich, Cardiff 8; Wigan, Brighton, Rotherham, Leeds 7; Birmingham 6; Huddersfield 4; Bolton 2; Blackpool, Fulham 1.

League One
Barnsley 3 - MK Dons 5
Bradford 1 - Swindon 2
Bristol City 3 - Doncaster 0
Chesterfield 4 - Scunthorpe 1
Coventry City 2 - Yeovil 1
Crawley 1 - Fleetwood 0
Crewe 2 - Port Vale 1
Leyton Orient 0 - Colchester 2
Oldham 0 - Gillingham 0
Peterboro 0 - Notts County 0
Sheffield Utd 1 - Rochdale 0
Walsall 3 - Preston NE 1

Standings: Bristol City 17; Peter-borough 16; MK Dons, Chesterfield 13; Coventry 12; Swindon, Fleetwood 11; Bradford, Sheffield Utd 10; Preston, Oldham, Crawley 9; Barnsley, Notts County, Gillingham, Yeovil 8; Rochdale, Walsall, Doncaster 7; Leyton Orient 6; Colchester, Port Vale 5; Scuntorpe 4; Crewe 3.

League Two
Accrington1 - Wimbledon 0
Burton 2 - York City 0
Carlisle 0 - Bury 3
Dagenham 2 - Cambridge 3
Exeter 1 - Oxford 1
Hartlepool 0 - Tranmere 0
Luton Town 1 - Cheltenham 0
Morecambe 2 - Plymouth 1
Newport 3 - Northampton 2
Southend 2 - Portsmouth 0
Stevenage 1 - Shrewsbury 0
Wycombe 2 - Mansfield 1

Standings: Burton Albion 19; Morecambe 16; Bury, Wycombe, Cheltenham 14; Cambridge, Shrew-sbury, Southend, Northampton 11; Plymouth, Portsmouth, Stevenage 10; Mansfield 9; Tranmere, Wim-bledon, York, Newport, Luton 8; Dagenham, Hartlepool, Accrington 7; Oxford, Exeter, Carlisle 3.