Manchester City 3 West Ham Utd 0: IT IS not often you can sit through an entire Premier League match and see one side incapable of managing a shot until the fourth minute of stoppage time.

Mark Hughes will certainly be grateful to have come up against such obliging opponents as this rudderless West Ham side on the day Manchester City banished a few more of their early-season problems and Thaksin Shinawatra decided it was safe to show his face again.

City's owner had been warned to keep away for his own safety, but changed his mind after a security meeting and, as well as his usual phalanx of bodyguards, the former prime minister of Thailand brought with him a block booking of supporters from Bangkok.

Naturally, this group was in a strategic position to be seen by the television cameras and, after every goal, a banner was lifted proclaiming: "We support Thaksin".

It will not sit easily with every City supporter but, politics aside, Thaksin chose a good day to return.

Ignoring, for one moment, West Ham's wretchedness, this was exactly the football he had promised to deliver - slick and entertaining - with two goals from Elano and a left-foot strike that demonstrates why the 18-year-old Daniel Sturridge is rated so highly.

The one downside for City was the sight of Micah Richards lying unconscious on a stretcher, wearing a neck brace and an oxygen mask, after a clash of heads with team-mate Tal Ben Haim.

Yet the overall feeling was one of intense satisfaction, with Hughes describing the performance as "excellent" after three goals in an 11-minute spell of a game that saw Mark Noble become the first Premier League player to be sent off this season and an incensed Alan Curbishley questioning his entire team.

"I can't look at any of them and say they can hold up their hands and say they performed," said the West Ham manager.

Noble had been booked in the 34th minute after stumbling over the ball and then grabbing out at it to prevent Vincent Kompany, City's accomplished debutant, taking possession.

Three minutes later, the midfielder lunged in at Michael Johnson and connected with his instep. Curbishley thought it was harsh at first, but withdrew his complaint after watching the video replay.

The red card gave City all the encouragement they needed, although Curbishley was looking agitated even before then. His team began sluggishly and got worse from there.

Their passing was poor, their movement one-paced and, after somehow holding out for the first 65 minutes, they collapsed after Sturridge latched on to Matthew Upson's poor clearance and lashed a shot into the roof of the net.

By then, City had already struck the woodwork twice, first when Callum Davenport got a decisive block on Ben Haim's goal-bound shot, then when Martin Petrov curled a free-kick against Robert Green's left-hand post.

Davenport also cleared a Stephen Ireland shot off the goalline as it dawned on City that their opponents were there for the taking.

Once the penny dropped, they never looked back.

If Curbishley had had his spies at City's previous home game, the 1-0 defeat to FC Midtjylland in the first leg of a Uefa Cup qualifier, he would have seen a team booed off by their supporters and utterly devoid of confidence or imagination.

This time, at least half of Hughes's side were playing at the point of maximum expression. Petrov, in particular, made it a chastening experience for Valon Behrami, West Ham's €6.5 million recruit from Lazio.

Ireland was superb on his return to the team and, on this form, he and Vedran Corluka are entitled to feel they proved a point after the executive chairman, Garry Cook, stated at the weekend that Hughes was trying to replace them with "better players".

Both of Elano's right-foot finishes were created on the right, teed up by Ireland after foraging runs by Corluka.

"I know it's early days," said Curbishley, "but that performance was not good enough."

• Guardian Service