City stroll on Sterling debut
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Raheem Sterling's Manchester City debut was overshadowed by the old guard as Yaya Toure and Vincent Kompany made the decisive contributions in an impressive 3-0 win at West Bromwich Albion.
Having seen rivals Chelsea and Arsenal both slip up over the weekend, Manuel Pellegrini's team took full advantage as they provided an early glimpse of their Premier League title credentials with a dominant display at The Hawthorns. Toure and David Silva combined to hand City the initiative just nine minutes in, with the Spain international flicking home his team-mate's shot with the aid of a deflection, although the Côte d'Ivoire midfielder was credited with the goal.
Toure doubled City's advantage 15 minutes later and Belgium defender Kompany added the third after half-time to cap a confident opener for last year's runners-up, who sit top of the table after the first round of fixtures.
Sterling, signed from Liverpool for a club record £49m over the close-season, should have joined his new team-mates on the scoresheet. The England winger spurned a glorious opportunity during what was an encouraging, yet far from flawless, competitive bow for his new club which lasted 74 minutes before he was substituted.