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It won’t go down as one of Jack Grealish’s best goals but it was special all the same. His first for Manchester City, and on his home debut at the Etihad.

The fans were here to witness it as well with a proper crowd inside the ground for the first time in 18 months to see the new £100million man.

So much has been said about City’s pursuit of Harry Kane recently that it feels as though Grealish’s British record transfer from Aston Villa has been somewhat overshadowed. 

Jack Grealish scored on his Manchester City home debut and helped the champions romp to an emphatic win over Norwich

Grealish (right) has his first goal for his new club just weeks after sealing his sensational £100million move from Aston Villa

City are off the mark for the season and put Norwich to the sword with a classy display, inflicting their second straight defeat

But he’s a hard man to ignore and there’s no doubt this will be the first of many goals for his new club, even if it wasn’t a classic.

City were already a goal to the good when Gabriel Jesus – who finished this game with three assists – was released down the right by a slide rule pass from Kyle Walker in the 22nd minute.

The Brazilian raced away from Dimitris Giannoulis and whipped a cross into the box which evaded four players before reaching Grealish at the far post. 

It almost caught the England international by surprise but he was able to divert the ball goalwards with the inside of his left thigh and it bobbled over the line past the despairing Max Aarons.

Tim Krul's unfortunate own goal broke the deadlock after just seven minutes, with a deflection striking him and finding the net

Goalkeeper Krul was left helpless and watched on as the ricochet bounced off him and dropped agonisingly into his own net

Ferran Torres wheeled away in celebration after beating Krul, but his goal was chalked off following a brief VAR screen check

And that was it, really. Game over. This was one of those encounters we have become all too accustomed to at the Etihad when opponents sit in hoping to keep Guardiola’s side at bay and fail by some distance. Once the goals start flying in, there’s only going to be one outcome.

In that sense, Norwich at home was the ideal fixture for City after the disappointment of their opening defeat at Tottenham last weekend.

Including their relegation season in 2019-20, this is a club now on a 12-game losing streak in the top-flight and even at this early stage looking set for another survival battle.

City’s stats coming into the game didn’t look too clever either. They had lost their last three matches without scoring if you counted last season’s Champions League final and the Community Shield. Guardiola was trying to avoid a fourth straight defeat for the first time in his career.

Referee Graham Scott headed pitch side to review the footage and then confirmed Torres' goal wouldn't stand for an offside

Grealish dazzled for City and, having posted a constant threat, soon opened his account for City midway through the first half

Gabriel Jesus' low ball across the penalty area took a slight deflection off Max Aarons, and fell to Grealish (left) at the far post

Grealish was caught unaware, but the ball hit his leg and ended up dropping over the line past Aarons for a maiden City goal

Missing Kevin De Bruyne with an ankle injury, he made five changes to the team that lost at Spurs and saw his team go ahead inside six minutes.

Rodri floated a pass out to Jesus on the right and he volleyed the ball across goal. Norwich skipper Ben Gibson instinctively stuck out a leg and the ball took a deflection off goalkeeper Tim Krul’s right shoulder on its way in.

The Canaries persisted in trying to play out from the back – as they did in a 3-0 defeat to Liverpool last weekend – but it wasn’t working.

Ten minutes in, manager Daniel Farke turned on his heels and walked back towards the dugout, arms outstretched, fists clenched, ranting at his coaching staff.

Several Norwich defenders and stopper Krul were left scrambling around inside their own box but couldn't prevent the goal

Aymeric Laporte netted City's third of the afternoon after the visitors made a mess of their effort to scramble a corner clear

Defender Laporte was an unlikely scorer and was then quickly mobbed by his team-mates with City firmly in the ascendency

Norwich avoided going further behind shortly afterwards when Jesus nudged the ball through for Ferran Torres to score, but referee Graham Scott was advised by VAR official Jon Moss to take a look at it on the pitch-side monitor and spotted that Bernardo Silva had clipped Milot Rashika’s ankles in the build-up.

However, Grealish’s goal put City firmly in the driving seat and three more followed after half-time. Aymeric Laporte scored the third in the 64th minute, and it was another scrappy one.

Ilkay Gundogan sent over a corner from the left and Laporte’s header deflected off Pierre Lees-Melou and Rashica’s knee before falling for the Spain international to stab home.

Another defence-splitting pass from Walker gave Jesus the opportunity to make his third assist of the game in the 71st minute. His delivery was spot on again, giving substitute Raheem Sterling an easy conversion from close range.

Guardiola was already ringing the changes by then and the fifth goal came from another substitute, Riyad Mahrez, six minutes from time.

Rodri spotted the Algerian unmarked in the box and picked him out with a simple pass. Mahrez controlled the ball with his first touch and stroked it past Krul with his second.

Poor Krul. The Dutchman has now conceded 30 goals on his last six Premier League appearances at the Etihad. For Norwich, it’s a meagre 26 goals. They came along at the perfect moment for City.