Manchester City have eased to a comfortable 4-0 win over 10-man Newcastle United in their opening Premier League game of the season.
Goals from David Silva and Sergio Aguero gave the Blues a 2-0 lead going into the break, while Yaya Toure and substitute Samir Nasri each added another in the second half to complete the scoring.
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City almost took the lead after just two minutes when Aguero found space to shoot, but Tim Krul pulled off a fine save to deny the Argentinian.
Krul was to be a busy man for the entire match, and he was called upon just two minutes later to fingertip Edin Dzeko's strike wide.
The hosts did get the opener in the sixth minute, however, as Silva nodded in Dzeko's deflected cross.
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It was 2-0 by the 22nd minute and again Dzeko was heavily involved, flicking the ball off to Aguero who took it past Steven Taylor before firing it in off the post.
A poor first half from the Magpies got even worse in the third minute of injury time when Taylor was given his marching orders for an overly robust challenge on Aguero.
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City didn't hang about extending their lead in the second half, making it 3-0 just six minutes after the restart when Toure beat Krul with a fine free kick from the edge of the box.
The hosts refused to let up and were only denied a fourth just past the hour mark when Krul got down well to save Dzeko's effort.
The Dutchman was merely delaying the inevitable, however, as Nasri breezed past Mathieu Debuchy and slotted the ball home to make it four with 15 minutes still left on the clock.
City came close to adding a fifth late on when Alvaro Negredo had a debut goal chalked off, but their four-goal winning margin still puts them top of the table after the first round of matches.
Barney Corkhill
