The return of Sergio Aguero outweighed the loss of Kevin De Bruyne as Manchester City edged a tough encounter with their first clean sheet of the season.
This was determined rather than dazzling City with Raheem Sterling showing the benefit of resting during the international break by scoring the only goal after 23 minutes.
Aguero, who looked relatively sharp given he’d missed the last 17 matches since undergoing knee surgery in June, had a part to play in the winner, feeding Phil Foden’s whose shot was parried by Bernd Leno into the path of Sterling to slot in his fourth goal in three games.