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Manchester City got their Champions League campaign off to a confident start as they beat Czech side Viktoria Plzen with goals from Edin Dzeko, Yaya Toure and Sergio Aguero.

After a nervous first half, Manuel Pellegrini's side went ahead when Dzeko finished a break after 48 minutes.

Within 10 minutes City were 3-0 up as Toure curled in from 25 yards and then Aguero fired in after a smart turn.

Plzen came closest when Tomas Horava hit the post from a corner.

Aguero also hit the post in the first half, while Dzeko and Toure should both have headed in, but it was a welcome victory for City, who recorded their first win in seven Champions League games.

After finishing bottom of their group last season and having failed to reach the knockout stages in 2011-12, both under former manager Roberto Mancini, City's wealthy owners have targeted success in Europe this term.

And while they will face tougher challenges, namely holders Bayern Munich in their next Group D match, this result will have soothed any apprehension following opening defeats in their last two European ventures.

Further good news came in the shape of returning skipper Vincent Kompany completing 90 minutes after being out injured since City's opening-day victory over Newcastle on 19 August.

Although Plzen had to come through three qualifying play-off ties to reach this stage, they were far from outplayed by City early on.

This was the hosts' second appearance in the Champions League, having recorded an impressive 2-2 draw with AC Milan two years ago, while they also took some decent scalps in last year's Europa League.

City, hoping that Pellegrini can repeat previous successes at Villarreal and Malaga, where he reached the last four and eight respectively, had plenty of chances to open the scoring in the first half with Toure and Dzeko both guilty of wasting close-range headers.

Jesus Navas had a shot tipped over by goalkeeper Matus Kozacik while Aguero hit the post after a surging run through the middle.

The visitors were combining nicely in the final third, but there were also some anxious moments at the back as 38-year-old Plzen skipper Pavel Horvath whipped in several precise dead-ball deliveries.

It gave a stern test to goalkeeper Joe Hart, while Aleksandar Kolarov was perhaps fortunate to stay on the pitch when he fouled Milan Petrzela after an earlier booking.

Nerves were becalmed three minutes after the break, though, when Aguero played a huge part in setting up Dzeko's strike. The Argentine collected a through ball, held off Lukas Hejda and squared for the Bosnian to calmly stroke home.

City suffered a scare moments later when Pablo Zabaleta blocked Daniel Kolar's effort but two superb goals in the space of five minutes sealed the victory.

There was not too much danger when Toure collected the ball deep in the Plzen half but the hosts' defence backed off and the Ivorian curled a lovely shot into the top corner after 53 minutes.

Aguero then got on the scoresheet with a poacher's finish, receiving Samir Nasri's pass and turning before firing left-footed into the bottom corner.

Plzen hit the woodwork late on but Aguero could easily have had a hat-trick as his side completed a resounding win ahead of this weekend's Manchester derby.