Manchester City began Premier League life under Manuel Pellegrini with a commanding victory against Newcastle at the Etihad Stadium.

David Silva, Sergio Aguero, Yaya Toure and Samir Nasri scored in a slick performance that was helped by the departure of Magpies defender Steven Taylor for a swipe at Aguero just before the break.

The only concern for the new manager was the sight of Vincent Kompany departing the action early with what looked like a knock.

The omens were good for City even before a ball had been kicked. In nine visits, Newcastle had never won at the Etihad Stadium and no new permanent City manager had ever lost their first Premier League home game.

In the build-up, Pellegrini has been keen to stress he knows all about English football despite never managing here before. He's even got a game against Newcastle on his CV, a pre-season friendly with Villarreal in 2006.

James Milner started that game on the bench, and he was among the substitutes again as Pellegrini announced his first team in his new job.

There were places for new boys Jesus Navas and Fernandinho, and for Sergio Aguero, despite missing the entire pre-season campaign with a knee injury.


The Argentinian almost got his season off to a perfect start, getting on the end of Pablo Zabaleta's cross but seeing his shot saved by Tim Krul. A minute later there was more of the same. Navas to Zabaleta and this time to Edin Dzeko who scuffed his shot wide of the far post.

Pellegrini prowled round his technical area but he didn't to have to wait long for his reign to get off to a flying start. Dzeko, full of confidence after Pellegrini's public declarations, skipped past Mathieu Debuchy and after his cross had ballooned into the air, Silva calmly headed into the net.

You know things are going well when the smallest man on the pitch is scoring headers.

There was still the Italian organisation of the Mancini era but with the South American flair championed by Pellegrini. The new manager has given his players so much confidence that Dzeko tried a couple of step-overs before shooting wide. It was just like watching Brazil. Well, almost.

Dzeko wasn't done. After 22 minutes he tried another clever flick. This time it cushioned the ball into Aguero's path who beat Taylor for pace and sent his shot in off Krul's far post to make it 2-0.

Pellegrini turned to take his seat on the bench pointing to his watch. It was as if to say 'why did that take so long?'

Dzeko, in particular, looked like a different player. He can sometimes have the touch of an elephant but here he was cute and physical in equal measure.

On his day he can look unplayable, and it was his day. The only thing that wasn't working were his studs, and he lost his footing just as Fernandinho put him through. He did everything but score.

City were playing with so much belief that Silva had time to thank Navas for a ranging cross-field pass before it had reached him. Some sections of the home support started singing 'there's only one Pellegrini'.

And if City keep playing like this, there's no reason why he won't be every bit as popular as Mancini in these parts.

As half-time approached, Taylor's frustration at watching Aguero, Silva, Dzeko and Navas dart around him boiled over and he clubbed Aguero around the head with his forearm. He protested, but it looked better suited to a wrestling ring than a football pitch.

After the break, Dzeko's header was kept out by Krul's reaction save but it wasn't long before he was fishing the ball out of his net for a third time.

Stood over a free-kick 20 yards out, Yaya Toure, who had been quiet until then, bent a delicious strike into Krul's top corner. Substitute Nasri came off the bench to score the fourth and start the chants of 'we're top of the league' and, just for the away fans, 'we've got Sheikh Mansour, you've got Joe Kinnear'.

Midway through the second half, Zabaleta was caught laughing by the cameras after a missed chance. It was that kind of night.

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