Manchester City clinched a 3-2 win over Bolton as goals from David Silva, Gareth Barry and Edin Dzeko subdued Owen Coyle's spirited side in an enthralling clash on Sunday.
Bolton refused to surrender despite twice facing a two-goal deficit as Ivan Klasnic and Kevin Davies ensured Roberto Mancini's team faced a tough time at the Reebok Stadium.
But City's class eventually shone through and the expensively-assembled side sit at the top of the Premier League table with six points from two matches.
Following his impressive goalscoring debut as a substitute against Swansea last week, City's new signing Sergio Aguero made his full debut while Mancini opted to leave Carlos Tevez on the bench following his return to training.
Tevez has been agitating for a move away from City for the past three months and claims there is nothing he likes about Manchester as a city and he is likely to be even less impressed with his current home after Mancini's decision to assert his authority.
City cruised to a comfortable victory against Premier League new boys Swansea in Aguero's first game last Monday, but they were put under far more pressure in this contest as Bolton matched them in the opening stages.
Chris Eagles' drilled free-kick forced Joe Hart into an impressive block, while defender Zat Knight should also have scored early on as the ball fell to him in the City area but he weakly shot wide.
Aguero then thrashed over Dzeko's cross after 18 minutes when all he had to do was beat Jussi Jaaskelainen from 10 yards out.
Yet that missed chance was the last luck Jaakelainen would have as he made a dreadful error shortly before the half hour mark to gift City the lead.
Silva's speculative effort was hit directly at him but as the ball swerved slightly in the air, the Bolton keeper entirely misjudged the direction of the shot and let it slip into the net.
City thought they had scored again through Aguero but his flicked effort was ruled out after Micah Richards' push on Martin Petrov in the build up to the goal.
But it was an ominous sign that City were moving through the gears.
Aguero again missed a simple effort 10 minutes before half time as he headed Dzeko's cross wide from six yards out.
However, Mancini's men did grab a second before the break as Bolton fell asleep at a corner and gave Barry far too much time and space to smash a wonderful long-distance shot past Jaaskelainen.
That goal suggested Bolton were there for the taking but Klasnic showed that Coyle's side did have some fight as he instantly halved the deficit for the home side.
Former City winger Petrov crossed into the box from the left and Klasnic dashed in front of Joleon Lescott and beat Hart from close range just before the interval.
Just 90 seconds into the second half, City had restored their two-goal cushion as Dzeko grabbed the goal that his enterprising play deserved.
He flicked the ball over Knight before composing himself and powering a shot past Jaaskelainen.
Richards and Dzeko had decent chances but failed to convert before Bolton forward Davies arrived from nowhere to head home Paul Robinson's cross and make it 3-2.
Tevez replaced Aguero halfway through the second period but had only a limited impact on the game as City looked for more goals.
Source: AFP
