Villarreal, Spain, Nov 3: Yaya Toure scored a goal either side of Mario Balotelli's penalty to give Manchester City a 3-0 win over Villarreal in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Toure received a pass from David Silva on the half hour mark before beating goalkeeper Diego Lopez for City's first away goal in their debut season in the Champions League.
Balotelli marked his first appearance in European play this season with a penalty before halftime, and the Italy striker 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.
"We've always thought if we do our job properly then we are as strong as anyone," City captain Vincent Kompany said. "We don't need to look too much at the other teams, we can win every game."
Mancini applauded his team's performance, which saw it pick up a seventh straight victory in all competitions. During that stretch, City has outscored opponents 27-6.
"I can understand with Villarreal missing four or five players, but it is always hard to win away in the Champions League and here it was no different," City manager Roberto Mancini said. "So, I think this is good for our confidence."
The only bump on the night City experienced came when 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.
"They need to change the bench here," said the Italian, who also had a similar experience when he visited with Inter Milan in 2006. "I took a knock, very hard."
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, who came off in the 65th to safeguard against a back injury, 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.
"That goal was the game, probably," Mancini said after starting Balotelli on his return from 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.
City next plays at Napoli in a match could seal City's passage to the next stage.
"It's important for us to go into the second stage because if we go there than anything can happen with us," Mancini said. "Everything will be good."
