It was hard to know what made the supporters of Manchester City the most mirthful and merry.

There was revelling in the discomfort of Nicky Butt and Alan Smith as they circled in chase of the ball with the futility and building rage of a cat trying to grab a wasp. There was looking to glum Joey Barton sitting in the stand and singing: “Joey, what’s the score?” There was the Premier League table at quarter to three which showed their team joint top with Arsenal. And there was magic to behold, the sashaying sorcery of an entertainer named Elano Ralph Blumer.

When asked how he had unearthed such a special player, Sven-Göran Eriksson just shrugged. “He was playing for Brazil, in top, top games,” smiled the Swede. To him, there was a mystery in identifying Elano as a talent and paying £8m to release him from Shakhtar Donetsk; the question is why a bigger club in England or Europe did not move for the Brazilian long before Eriksson became Manchester City manager.

“He’s a great footballer, a midfielder, striker, second striker, he can do a bit of everything,” Eriksson continued. “I don’t know how many years I’ve known about him but I know very well the manager of Brazil, Dunga. At Fiorentina he was one of my players. Before buying Elano I spoke to him. Elano is up there with any creative player I’ve managed, even [Roberto] Mancini.”

It was Elano, having already conjured a winning position for City, who pulled one final rabbit out of a hat as he lined up a free kick 30 yards out. Shay Given, recalled by Sam Allardyce for the unfortunate Steve Harper, had spent the previous 86 minutes reasserting himself as one of football’s top goalkeepers, but he was about to be rendered an irrelevance.

Some short steps took Elano to the ball, his right boot swung straight through its sweet spot and Given groped air as it scorched his netting.

“You could have named many of our players man of the match and I wouldn’t have argued but when you see a free kick taken like that . . . it was a great shot,” said Eriksson. “You can’t hit the ball any better. It was absolutely incredible.”

Elano’s strike punctuated arguably City’s most complete performance since moving to the Eastlands stadium which, oddly, and shamefully given the entertainment offered, was significantly below capacity. It was a high quality game, with Newcastle playing their part, particularly in the first half.

Here was evidence for those who believe the Premier League to be a much enhanced competition this season due to the improvement among clubs outside the big four. Newcastle were compact and canny and absorbed early City pressure before going ahead with brutal efficiency.

For the merest moment Eriksson’s players switched off, with Habib Beye in possession on the halfway line. The full back passed to Geremi, who lofted a quick, accurate pass between Richard Dunne and Micah Richards, and suddenly a standard situation had become a deadly one. Obafemi Martins spun between the centre backs, tamed the ball with a deft touch of his left foot, and lofted it over Joe Hart with his right.

“Everything went to plan, we were 1-0 up and it was about containing our opponents until the time was right to strike again,” moaned Allardyce. “Instead we committed suicide.” This analysis underestimated City and the amazing Ralph Blumer.

Elano had already forced Given to leap to his left to effect a world class piece of shot-stopping with a vicious volley.

Now the Brazilian dinked a pass inside Charles N’Zogbia which held up perfectly for Stephen Ireland who drove into the box and knocked a clever pass across goal which found Martin Petrov arriving to score at the far post. Before half-time Elano set Ireland free again but the midfielder should have tried to chip Given earlier and by the time he did was too close to the goalkeeper and played the ball against his chest.

But for Elano, Petrov would be the one held up in tribute to Eriksson’s shrewdness. He is another remarkable signing, again a player who had been performing for some time at a high level without being claimed by a bigger club. Just after half-time the Bulgarian, bought for £4.7m from Atletico Madrid, capitalised on a poor clearing header by N’Zogbia and drove down the left flank, outpacing Steven Taylor, and spinning in a cross while on the run which Emile Mpenza, arching backwards, placed beyond Given with a header for 2-1.

The unbuttoned nature of City’s football under Eriksson still takes some getting used to given the dismal formality of his England team. It was epitomised by Richards going on not one but two breakaways, each time charging deep into Newcastle territory all the way from his own box. On the second occasion he ran onto an Ireland pass and was one on one with Given only to hit a feeble left foot shot when a thumping finish was called for.

Richards burst out laughing at his own incompetence. With this result providing City’s best start to the season in 30 years it was very much a day for blue-shirted smiling.

Star man: Elano (Man City)

Player ratings: Man City: Hart 6, Corluka 6 (Onouha 57min, 6), Richards 8, Dunne 7, Garrido 7, Ireland 7, Johnson 6 (Ball 86min), Hamann 6, Petrov 8, Elano 9 (Geovanni 89min), Mpenza 7

Newcastle: Given 8, Beye 6, Taylor 6 (Faye 84min), Rozehnal 7, N’Zogbia 5, Butt 6, Smith 5, Geremi 5 (Enrique 76min), Milner 5, Martins 7, Viduka 5 (Emre 88min)