When Roberto Mancini said he wanted an extra ten to 15 goals this season, he didn’t mean he wanted them all in one match!

But when he unleashed the firepower of Sergio Aguero to play alongside the deceptive mobility of Edin Dzeko, he might have got them.

The £38m record signing had an explosive impact, turning a fragile lead over a game Swansea side into an emphatic victory with two goals – one of stunning power – and an assist.

Dzeko had already put the Blues ahead as they exerted their superiority after a shaky opening 20 minutes, but it was Aguero who killed the match.

Mario Balotelli was the striker left out in the cold by Aguero’s ascendancy, warming up and reflecting on where he stands, especially as Carlos Tevez should be fit and available for next week’s trip to Bolton.

When you consider that Aguero has only had a week’s training and is in the opening stages of his career in English football, his display was phenomenal.

He had the scurrying work-rate and fighting strength of Tevez, but with a burst of pace which his fellow Argentine does not possess – and his goals consisted of a poacher’s finish and a brilliant firecracker from ­distance.

Balotelli’s only contribution was another daft one. City players threw their weight behind the ‘I Love Manchester’ campaign which is intent on restoring the city after last week’s riots, wearing T-shirts bearing the ­slogan.

But Balotelli can’t stay away from poking sticks in hornets’ nests – someone had written ‘City’ on the bottom of his shirt.

He declared recently that he did not like living in Manchester, so you have to admire his honesty, if not his diplomacy!

There is a debate about the best time to face Premier League newcomers, and the opening weekend of the season had done nothing to settle the matter.

Bolton were glad to catch Queen’s Park Rangers in slightly awe-struck mode, sticking four past them, but Wigan caught Norwich in more bullish mood and were held at home.

City faced the team which, of the three promoted clubs, is tipped to be best-equipped to survive the rigours of a first season in the top flight.

And, for 20 minutes, they got a wake-up call. The visitors, in an all-white kit, were more like Real Madrid than some uppity ladder-climbers from south Wales.

In that opening spell, they passed City to distraction, racking up 69 per cent of the possession. Little Leon Britton out-shone City’s main man David Silva and it was the Swans who appeared most likely to break the deadlock as the Blues looked sluggish and out of sorts.

Mancini stressed the need for a swift start to the season as his side picked up four points from the first three games last time.

They also had a damaging tendency to drop points against lowly teams – in fact they leaked nine points against bottom six teams, precisely the distance between them and champions United.

So the leisurely pace and lack of direction from City in the opening phase had Mancini prowling his technical area in pent-up frustration, and frequently sending out his £120m-worth of substitutes to warm up.

It was Silva who first roused himself from the summer slumber, and shook a few teammates into action at the same time.

Picking up from a loose corner, he one-two’d himself a yard of space and them smashed a shot which had keeper Michel Vorm flying to his right for a spectacular one-handed save.

Suddenly the Blues burst into life, and by half time they might have been out of sight.

Moments later Edin Dzeko twisted and turned inside the full back and his shot cannoned off the hand of defender Ashley Williams. Referee Mike Dean ruled it was no penalty.

Yaya Toure had been unusually sluggish but he also showed signs of life as the half wore on, and when he surged forward and fed Adam Johnson on the right, the winger pulled his cross back for Silva to nonchalantly side-foot against the bar, this time with Vorm well beaten.

Yaya took it on himself next time, powering down the right in a manner which often had the City fans on their feet last season – but his driven shot was turned into the side netting.

The Blues were turning the screw now, and from the corner the ball fell to Silva, eight yards out. Unfortunately for City, it dropped onto his lesser right foot, and his volleyed side-foot flew over the bar.

City could have had three in added time alone, Yaya freeing Dzeko on the left and the big man showing great mobility to twist inside Steven Caulker, only for Vorm to produce another fine save, this time at close range.

Gareth Barry tried his luck from distance, the shot cannoning off a defender and bouncing wide, and when the ball fell to him again following the corner, he smashed it against the bar.

City began the second half in similar fashion with Yaya, Silva and Johnson finding paths through the Swansea defence at will – but unable to find either the killer pass or the inspired ­finish.

A little anxiety began to seep in as the goal would not come.

And when Swansea had a four-on-three break, only thwarted by Joe Hart’s excellent diving save from Stephan Dobbie, that was a reminder that a point was still not secure, never mind three.

Aguero and Balotelli were sent down the touchline again, and this time it had the desired effect.

Silva was, inevitably, the architect, showing tremendous strength and balance to wriggle free of Britton’s attentions deep in City territory and stride into the wide-open space beyond.

He timed his pass to perfection for Johnson, racing down the right.

The winger cut inside and Vorm could only spill the shot at the feet of Dzeko for a simple ­finish.

New boy Aguero replaced Nigel De Jong on the hour – and his first touch was very nearly a goal as Yaya teed him up and Vorm performed heroics again, before scrambling to his feet to somehow block Yaya’s follow-up.

But Aguero was not to be denied.

Eight minutes after coming on for his debut, he got on the end of a swift and sweeping City move as Johnson freed Richards on the right and his teasing cross reached the Argentine striker for another simple tap-in.

The Blues were on fire now and when Dzeko chipped one into the box for Aguero, he lobbed the keeper and then retrieved the ball from the by-line, lifting it back into the box for Silva to finish.

From that moment it was exhibition stuff, with Aguero at the heart of the best work, and Dzeko, Yaya and Silva all clearly loving playing with him.

Aguero had the normally composed Mancini clapping loudly with the coup de grace, a ferocious 25-yard dipping shot which left Vorm stranded.

No-one can get too carried away, as Swansea wilted badly after a bold start, but it is a heady cocktail of goals and guile which City now have at their disposal.

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