Julian Alvarez shone as Manchester City came from behind to begin their Champions League defence with a comfortable 3-1 win over Red Star Belgrade.

The treble winners were stunned when the Serbian champions claimed a shock lead against the run of play through Osman Bukari just before half-time in Tuesday’s Group G clash at the Etihad Stadium.

Alvarez levelled quickly after the break and was then responsible for City taking the lead as his free-kick was punched into goal by the otherwise excellent Red Star goalkeeper Omri Glazer.

Rodri, matchwinner against Inter Milan in last season’s final, then wrapped up a thoroughly deserved victory with a typically composed finish 17 minutes from time.

Prior to taking the lead, City had completely dominated the game, with Glazer producing a series of fine saves to thwart the hosts and Erling Haaland hitting the crossbar.

The hosts finally started to take their chances in the second period but could have scored plenty more with Kyle Walker having an effort disallowed, Haaland again hitting the woodwork and Alvarez finding the side-netting.

Red Star boast plenty of European pedigree as winners of the competition in 1991 but, facing the continent’s present pre-eminent force, they were completely outplayed.

City had their first chance after nine minutes when Phil Foden had an effort deflected over and Rodri then jinked into the area before testing Glazer.

It was the start of a busy half for the Israeli keeper, who also denied Alvarez twice and kept out a point-blank header from Foden.

He could do little about City’s best chance of the opening period as Haaland met a floated Foden cross with a firm header but the bar came to his aid.

Haaland had another good chance to put City ahead but turned over from in front of goal.

City were made to rue their wasted chances as Red Star, who had looked to counter-attack when possible, grabbed a shock lead on the stroke of half-time.

The hosts were punished for playing a high line as Bukari was played through by Mirko Ivanic and slotted coolly past Ederson.

It initially looked like an offside flag might spare City but the goal was awarded following a VAR review.

City, who brought on Jeremy Doku for Bernardo Silva in the closing moments of the first half, quickly regrouped and equalised two minutes after the interval.

Alvarez finished superbly after being played in by Haaland, cleverly dinking over Glazer.

Walker thought he had put City ahead moments later only to be ruled offside.

City claimed the lead just before the hour as Alvarez curled a free-kick from the left into the box. Glazer came out to punch but failed to make clean contact and the ball flew in after skimming the back his hand.

Haaland went close again when he headed against a post before Alvarez lashed just wide.

City finally gave the scoreline a more realistic look when Rodri claimed their third.

The Spaniard turned Vladimir Lucic outside the area after good work by Foden and strode forward to pass the ball into the far bottom corner.

Julian Alvarez’s fine first-half strike handed Manchester City a hard-fought 1-0 win over Newcastle in their first home match since winning the treble on Saturday.

The World Cup winner curled a shot into the top corner after 31 minutes of a tight Premier League encounter at the Etihad Stadium and it proved enough for the champions to claim all three points.

Newcastle, buoyed by thrashing Aston Villa 5-1 in their season opener last week, had travelled in hope of claiming their first league win at City for almost 23 years.

Yet the hosts, despite making just two changes following their draining European Super Cup venture in Athens in midweek, were too strong and successfully nullified Eddie Howe’s side.

Pep Guardiola’s men were far from their fluid best, but they produced a professional performance to follow up their opening win at Burnley and in Alvarez and Phil Foden they had the brightest players on the pitch.

Newcastle fought to the end but it ultimately proved a frustrating night for the visitors, who had five players booked.

City started slowly but began to step up the pressure midway through the first half and threatened for the first time when Manuel Akanji curled a long-range attempt over.

Alvarez then whipped in a low cross but failed to find Erling Haaland before Mateo Kovacic and Foden both had efforts blocked.

Foden grew into the game and was a lively presence, having stepped into the playmaking void left by long-term injury victim Kevin De Bruyne.

Foden was instrumental in City’s goal, finding space and darting into the area before pulling back for Alvarez.

The Argentinian then did the rest, picking his spot from the edge of the area and firing a shot beyond Nick Pope.

Foden threatened to seize control of the game and was crudely pushed over by Sandro Tonali after another dangerous run. He then slipped Haaland in on goal but the Norwegian’s low shot rolled narrowly wide of the far post.

Haaland was close again early in the second half, first after holding off Sven Botman to shoot at Pope and then mishitting another shot wide, again from a Foden pass.

City’s failure to kill off the game allowed Newcastle to come back into it in the closing stages.

Harvey Barnes was presented with a good chance after a rare misplaced pass by Rodri, but he shot straight at Ederson from distance.

Miguel Almiron also had a powerful effort blocked but City continually got numbers back and remained dangerous on the counter-attack.

Both Foden and Rodri led late raids from deep, but neither could set Haaland free for the goal that would have sealed it.

In the end, Alvarez’s strike was sufficient and City, who began the evening parading last season’s silverware, could celebrate a job well done.

Julian Alvarez admitted “every game is a final” after Manchester City returned to the Premier League summit for the first time since February with a hard-fought 2-1 win at Fulham.

City were pushed all the way by Marco Silva’s men who were resilient throughout, recovering well after conceding an early penalty which Erling Haaland converted.

Carlos Vinicius levelled the game briefly in the 15th minute, but Alvarez’ stunning strike from distance restored City’s advantage and they held on.

“This is where we wanted to be at the start of the season,” Alvarez told City’s website.

“Everyone’s put in really good work and now we’ve reached the top we need to defend it.

“Every game is a final for us and everyone’s going to pull together to make that final effort.”

The Argentinian, who has had to wait for opportunities in Pep Guardiola’s starting line-up, added: “It was really nice to score here, a really important goal at an important point of the match. Really nice to contribute.

“We knew it would never be easy coming here because of the pitch, because of how good Fulham are as a team. We were very happy to withstand the pressure and hold out.”

Fulham manager Silva was left to ponder his side’s small defensive lapses following a largely impressive performance against a team still in the hunt for the treble.

“We had a clear plan for the game. We wanted to go through the centre of the pitch, with our wingers a little more inside,” Silva said.

“If you try to block certain areas, they will look to expose others. The players, they stuck to their plan and did it well.

“The moment after we equalised the game was probably our best moment in the match.

“We cannot concede the goal in the way we did. A great strike from Alvarez, I know, but the way we build in certain areas we cannot lose the ball in that way and we gave them a chance in their counter-attack.

“In the second half we were really competitive again. We didn’t create many chances, this is true, but we didn’t give many things to them either.”