Three goals in the first 21 minutes have given Manchester City a commanding half-time lead against self-harming Newcastle United at the Etihad Stadium.
Vurnon Anita's first-minute mistake exposed the Magpies to a rampant City start and Samir Nasri and Edin Dzeko added to Sergio Aguero's penalty to make it 3-0.
Dzeko, preferred in the team to £26m substitute Wilfried Bony, who was made to wait for his Citizens debut after returning from the Africa Cup of Nations, won the hosts their spot kick after pouncing on Anita's poor control and going down in the box after clashing knees with the Dutchman.
Aguero took the penalty, rather than City's other returning Ivorian Yaya Toure, and prevailed in a battle of minds with Tim Krul to roll the ball into the bottom corner after less than 90 seconds.
It was not long until City were two up, with Dzeko again playing his part. His cross into the box deflected to Nasri, who calmly danced through a couple of diving defenders to lift the ball into the top corner with his left foot.
Both of City's strikers went close before Dzeko got his name on the scoresheet to complete a fine first-half display. David Silva's perfectly-weighted lofted pass was controlled by the Bosnian and poked confidently past Krul for his first club goal since September.
Only a minor miracle now will prevent the champions from cutting the gap on Chelsea to five points at the top of the table, with Newcastle yet to show anything meaningful going forward, still shellshocked from their nightmare start.
Joe Fish
