Goals from Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden and Gabriel Jesus earned a 3-1 victory at Wolverhampton Wanderers as Manchester City made a winning start for the 10th Premier League season in a row.
De Bruyne drew a foul from Romain Saiss on 20 minutes and fired the resulting penalty beyond the reach of goalkeeper Rui Patricio.
Phil Foden doubled Man City's tally 12 minutes later after Sterling had rolled the ball into his path following neat play involving Jesus and De Bruyne.
It could have been worse for Wolves, but Patricio denied De Bruyne at full stretch to keep out the Belgian's left-footed strike just before half-time.
The home side rallied after the break and, after Daniel Podence and Raul Jimenez went close, the pair combined as Jimenez pulled a goal back with a 78th-minute header.
But Wolves couldn't repeat last season's feat of overturning a 2-0 deficit against Pep Guardiola's side, as Jesus fired past Patricio in second-half stoppage time.
See: Wolves report | Man City report
King of the Match: Kevin De Bruyne
Next fixtures
Wolves: 27 Sep v West Ham (A)
Man City: 27 Sep v Leicester (H)