Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini was pleased with victory over Newcastle United.
City got their noses in front when David Silva expertly converted Edin Dzeko's clever 38th-minute back-heeled pass, but they had to wait until stoppage time at the end of the game at St James' Park to wrap up victory.
Sergio Aguero secured the points with a close-range finish after goalkeeper Tim Krul had blocked his initial effort, although only a remarkable block by Fernando had denied Newcastle a late equaliser minutes earlier.
Pellegrini said: "I am very happy because I think it's always important to start the season winning, especially when you have to play away at so difficult a stadium as St James' - it's always a difficult stadium for every team that comes here.
"Maybe in the second half we couldn't have so much possession of the ball because seven of our 10 [outfield] players were not able to play 90 minutes at the same pace.
"But we were very concentrated, very well organised and we kept a clean sheet, and finally we decided the game with a second goal."
