Yaya Toure scored a goal in each half to lead Manchester City to a 3-0 win at Villarreal in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Toure received a pass from David Silva in the 30th minute before beating goalkeeper Diego Lopez for City's first away goal since the competition's inception from the European Cup.
Mario Balotelli marked his first appearance in European play this season with a penalty before halftime.
Balotelli then fed Toure in the 71st and the Ivory Coast midfielder slipped between defenders to score for his second goal.
Man City is three points behind Group A leader Bayern Munich, while injury-depleted Villarreal's fourth straight loss ensures the Spanish club can't reach the knockout stages.
Bayern hung on to beat Napoli 3-2 to improve to 10 points, while Napoli has five points.
The only bump on the night City experienced came when Roberto Mancini hit his head on the underside of the dugout just before Toure's opener. While the City manager initially refused treatment, he eventually was seen sitting in the dugout with an ice pack on his head.
Villarreal was missing seven regular players, including strikers Giuseppe Rossi, Nilmar and Marco Ruben, and learned before kickoff the team would also be without midfielder Bruno Soriano.
The hosts showed none of their usual zip as City controlled the play from the start through Silva, although Samir Nasri shot wide in City's first chance in the 19th.
Silva stayed focused and soon slid a short pass into the path of Toure, who stepped between two defenders and into the area to fire home the opener.
Jonathan De Guzman tested City 'keeper Joe Hart with a rising shot in Villarreal's first shot of the game, just before Mateo Musacchio slid into the back of Balotelli inside the area to cause the spot kick. The Italy striker coolly sidefooted the ball into the bottom right corner with Lopez guessing the other way.
Balotelli was returning after serving a three-match ban resulting from last year's Europa League competition.
Borja Valero managed to test Hart soon after the restart, with Villarreal appearing intent on overcoming its laborious first-half start at El Madrigal stadium.
But another goal came for the visitors when Nasri played Balotelli down the left and the Italian slipped the ball to Toure, who showed neat footwork to step past two defenders into the area and tuck a low shot inside the near post beyond Lopez.
That sealed Villarreal's first-ever loss against English opponents.
City next plays at Napoli while Villarreal is at Bayern.
