6mins A throw-in on the City right led to David Silva taking possession in a central position just outside the Newcastle area. His pass out to the left found Edin Dzeko, who evaded Mathieu Debuchy and pulled a centre back from close to the byline.

The cross struck the arm of Steven Taylor as he attempted to defend at the near post, ballooning up perfectly for Silva to nod beyond Tim Krul and into the net from 8 yards 0-1

22mins Papiss Cisse cheaply surrendered the ball to Vincent Kompany deep in the City half and he strode forward before moving the ball upfield towards Dzeko. His neat backheel in turn set Sergio Aguero away and although marshalled by Taylor, the Argentinean striker pulled away and squeezed a low right-footed shot diagonally across Krul and in off his far post from the edge of the box. 0-2
 
Half time: City 2 United 0 

50mins the unreliable Mathieu Debuchy conceded a needless free-kick outside the United area that was expertly dispatched by Yaya Toure - Papiss Cisse and Vurnon Anita ducking at the end of the wall. The scoreboard briefly displayed "4-0" before reverting to the correct total......0-3

75mins.... but they may as well have just left the scoreboard as it was....more woeful defending allowing substitute Samir Nasri to evade a lunging tackle from Debuchy to convert from 12 yards. 

Given the scorer's usual Acapulco cliff-diving antics, only the fact that the attempted challenge was well outside the box presumably saw him resist the temptation to tumble over, win the penalty and inevitably leave us with nine men for the remainder of the game 0-4
 
Full time: City 4 United 0

Debutant City manager Manuel Pelegrini:

"The most pleasing aspect was the way the team played for 90 minutes, from the beginning the attitude was aggressive and we continued to play that way for the whole match.

"It’s a very good start but I was very confident that the team would play well, we worked very hard during pre-season, we were trying another style of football and maybe we must continue to improve but for the first match, it was good.

"We are also very happy with both of the new players. Navas and Fernandinho played very well – Navas is always running and trying to make important passes inside the area.

"Fernandinho does a lot of work without the ball and he did well - I’m sure when Jovetic and Negredo come in and play 90 minutes they will do very well too. I’m very happy with the squad we have this season; we will need all of them.”

Had James Perch not been ejected in the close season, then he surely would have been utilised at some point this evening - and contributed as much as our illustrious midfield duo from the Ivory Coast and Holland. But we're better than that now, apparently.

And as for Debuchy, his every move at club level still seems to be an attempt to expose the folly of buying him to replace Danny Simpson. Quite what the future holds for him in the wake of Cabaye's expected departure is unclear, but continued links to other right backs suggest that a desire to move on may well be echoed by his employer.  

Conceding just once in 40 minutes to last season's runners-up while a man short is as close to a good news story as there's been around here lately, but it says as much about the new faces bedding in on and off the field for City as any great prowess on our part. They'll only improve, our future is a good deal less certain.

Tim Krul's welcome return avoided further punishment, while Coloccini looked as neat as usual when playing his own game, lacking superhuman powers to coax better performances from his three fellow defenders. The incoming Paul Dummett applied himself well however and Hatem Ben Arfa showed welcome glimpses of his pace and control. 

Other than that there wasn't much else positive to say: Papiss Cisse seldom got far enough forward to be offside and Moussa Sissoko looks full of running, albeit in a aimless manner. Taylor's apparent mutation into Gazza continues apace though; ludicrous pre-match gurning ritual now deserving of club fines if it's a prelude to this sort of reckless display. Heart on sleeve = brain left at home.

The defeat leaves us bottom of the table, having been on the receiving end of the heaviest defeat of the opening weekend. It's also our worst season-opening scoreline since 1988, when Willie McFaul's side shipped four goals without reply at Goodison Park and went on to be relegated. 

This expected defeat won't cost Alan Pardew his job, but losing to less glamorous sides will see any sympathy he's gained since last season evaporate. While we've stagnated, the likes of Norwich, Swansea, Southampton and Villa have all made conscious efforts to move forward. Even West Ham are attempting to purify their approach, while some sort of experiment is happening down the road.

Fed on a diet of lies, rumour and deliberate misinformation, the fans of this club require reassurance that there's actually anything worthy of their time, cash or devotion to be found within the confines of St.James' Park. That has to come from the players themselves, not the manager or the owner. 

And no amount of heartfelt twitter apologies or "we'll get it right" newspaper articles will provide that, only performances of competency and conviction, week after week. A cohesive pattern of play and a semblance of discipline and organisation will bring results, sell the tickets and the shirts.

Rather than wittering on like spoilt brats about needing a boost from new signings, just play some football, like you mean it. Like it actually matters. Buying players is proving to be difficult, but actually organising them effectively once here continues to elude us.    

Biffa