Newcastle United 0-2 Manchester City - Match Report

Sergio Aguero came off the bench to seal the three points

The Champions started with a tricky looking match but they came away from the north east with a hard fought three points.

Manchester City began their attempt to clinch a third Premier League crown in four seasons with a hard-fought 2-0 victory at Newcastle.

David Silva's first-half strike and substitute Sergio Aguero's stoppage-time effort proved to be too much for Alan Pardew's shot-shy side who looked neat and tidy in possession but lacked a cutting edge in front of goal.

It continued City's excellent recent record against Newcastle as they completed the double over the Magpies last season, easing to a 4-0 victory on the opening weekend of the campaign before clinching a 2-0 victory on Tyneside in January thanks to goals by Edin Dzeko and Alvaro Negredo.

Newcastle were without the injured Siem de Jong, Cheick Tiote, Davide Santon and Papiss Cisse, but Pardew handed debuts to new signings Daryl Janmaat, Remy Cabella, Emmanuel Riviere and the hard-working Jack Colback.

City were without the injured Negredo, while Manuel Pellegrini opted to start with Joe Hart rather than Willy Caballero in goal.

In the fourth minute City created the first opening of the encounter but Tim Krul made a crucial save when Dzeko tried to toe-poke the ball home after being sent clear by Stevan Jovetic.

Eight minutes later a smart move by City ended with Krul turning Samir Nasri's rasping drive away but Newcastle were playing some good football themselves, and when the lively Cabella tried a cheeky chip, his effort drifted only just over Joe Hart's goal.

Newcastle continued to look impressive and Cabella slipped the ball through to Riviere who miskicked his shot wide. Riviere then burst free of the City defence but lost his composure at the crucial moment when he lashed a wild cross over everybody.

City had been lack-lustre but they took the lead in the 38th minute when Dzeko ran on to Yaya Toure's long pass forward before back-heeling the ball to Silva who took one touch before clipping a low shot past Krul.

For all their good play, Newcastle had failed to really trouble Hart in the first 45 minutes but they started the second period very brightly and the England goalkeeper had to save Yoan Gouffran's low shot from a tight angle after Colback's corner had caused confusion in the visitors' defence.

City hit back well though and, in the 56th minute, Jovetic dragged a weak, low shot wide of Krul's goal before the former Fiorentina man saw a goalbound effort blocked by the over-worked Fabricio Coloccini.

Hart then came racing off his line only to fail to punch a free-kick away and was relieved to see Paul Dummett guide his header over the bar.

Aleksandar Kolarov then surged forward and won a corner for City. The ball was only half-cleared and when it was played back into the danger-area, Dzeko was inches away from making it 2-0 with a looping header.

Toure's free-kick from the edge of the area was only just too high as City began to get a grip on the match but Newcastle twice went close to grabbing an equaliser in the closing stages.

Just seconds after coming on as an 84th-minute substitute, Ayoze Perez burst free, only for his shot to be deflected narrowly wide for a corner.

But, after Moussa Sissoko had lashed a shot from the edge of the area over the bar, Aguero sealed the three points for City in stoppage time, clipping his shot into the net after Krul had saved his initial effort.