Edin Dzeko made his £27 million introduction for Manchester City - and was immediately upstaged by strike partner Carlos Tevez as the Blues secured top spot in the Premier League by edging a seven-goal thriller at Eastlands.
The Argentina striker joined Dimitar Berbatov at the head of the Premier League goalscoring charts with a second-half double to take his tally to 14, accompanying Kolo and Yaya Toure on the scoresheet as the brothers achieved the rare feat of finding the net in the same top-flight game.
It must have been quite an eye-opener for Dzeko, who produced an encouraging performance on his debut and appears willing to do the hard work in his partnership with Tevez in addition to the glamourous stuff.
The Bosnian was also given an instant lesson in the difficulty of securing points in England as City, having been totally outplayed for the first half-hour, then needed to resist a late Wolves surge after the plucky Black Country outfit had pulled themselves back into a contest that had already been turned on its head after their initial heroics.
Having flexed their mighty financial muscle to make Dzeko the sixth most expensive player the Premier League has ever known, City cannot have expected to be rolled over quite so easily as they were in that opening 30 minutes.
It should not have come as a total surprise. After all, Wolves beat City at Molineux earlier this season and accounted for both Liverpool and Chelsea during the Christmas period, so they clearly cannot be taken for granted.
Still, the one-sided manner of the contest was a shock, the only consolation for Roberto Mancini coming from the knowledge his side remained in the game.
They were already wobbling when Kolo Toure blasted a clearance into Vincent Kompany, the rebound dropping kindly for Nenad Milijas, who finished at the second attempt despite Joe Hart's initial heroics.
Hart denied Milijas shortly afterwards when the Serbian powered a header towards goal, although there was nothing he could do to prevent Steven Fletcher picking out an unmarked Matt Jarvis at the far post.
Jarvis must have thought he had scored when he pulled the trigger on a shot from 12 yards. Instead, Aleksandar Kolarov flung himself in the way to preserve a fragile state of affairs. The value of Kolarov's block was not immediately apparent as it took City some time to assert themselves.
But once Adam Johnson had forced Wayne Hennessey into an excellent feet-first save, Wolves began to assume the air of a side who could not wait for the interval to come.
Unfortunately for them, the clock did not speed round quickly enough. Tevez was only just wide with a fizzing shot, then, after Dzeko had been denied by an excellent Ronald Zubar challenge, Kompany got his head to Johnson's corner and flicked it towards the far post.
Kolo Toure controlled, then went for goal, ignoring the crowd of bodies in his way. His decision proved correct as the shot beat Hennessey, bounced through David Jones' legs and eventually over the line.
It was the Ivorian's first goal of the season. More importantly, it created the platform for normal service to be resumed after half-time.
More than anyone, Tevez had been inconvenienced by Dzeko's arrival, shunted from his favoured central berth to a role wide on the left at kick-off.
The Argentinian is not one for keeping quiet, though. And, as spectators were still taking their seats, he picked up possession on the angle of the area and exploded into life, bursting through the passive presence of Christophe Berra and Stephen Hunt, then skipping inside Richard Stearman.
The hard work done, the rest was easy as Tevez calmly slipped City in front. Mancini's men were not done either. Their third owed much to a neat one-two between Dzeko and Tevez just inside the Wolves half. The Bosnian then sent Yaya Toure clean through with a perfect through ball, the midfielder following his brother onto the scoresheet with clinical efficiency.
Dzeko came close to a debut goal when his deflected shot flew narrowly wide, but Tevez was in no mood to offer reprieves and when countryman Zabaleta crossed from the right, the Argentina star's header bounced in via the underside of the crossbar.
Amazingly, within seconds Wolves had pulled one back, Doyle getting to his feet to score from the spot after he had been bundled over by substitute Joleon Lescott.
Zubar added another to set up a frantic ending, which would have been sickening for City had Geoffrey Mujangi Bia's stoppage-time shot deflected into the net off Kompany rather than just wide.
Wolves boss Mick McCarthy was left cursing the ''little Argentinian with great feet'' for ensuring Manchester City went top of the Premier League.
''Tevez got a lucky ricochet and the ball fell in his path,'' said McCarthy. ''After that it was a brilliant goal.
''I know everyone wants me to criticise defenders. But he runs at you, he gets in the box, he has quick feet. At some stage you have to say it was a great goal. I thought we played really well. But we lost because they have that little Argentinian with great feet who has waltzed through our back four.''
Little wonder McCarthy was so frustrated. Had Aleksander Kolarov not blocked Matt Jarvis' goalbound effort, or Wolves stayed in front until the break, they might well have completed an unlikely double over the Premier League's big spenders.
''Forget the disparity between resources,'' said McCarthy. ''I am disappointed we have lost. But most teams would have laid down and had their backsides slapped at 4-1 down. It just shows what spirit the lads have got.
''There were a few squeaky bums when five minutes' injury-time went up. I was getting a lot of abuse at 4-1. At 4-3 with five extra minutes I thought they had all left.''
In the end though, it was City celebrating top spot as Wolves slid back into the bottom three.
''I am very happy for Carlos. He played very well and the first goal he scored was fantastic,'' said Blues boss Roberto Mancini, who was also impressed with £27million debutant Edin Dzeko. ''It is his first game for 30 days and his first game for a new team.
''He played well but he needs to work. He showed he is a good player.''
He also showed he was prepared to graft and act as support to Tevez if required, although - as Mancini acknowledged - there is still work to do, for them as well as his team.
''It is their first game and they have only worked together for one week,'' said Mancini. Dzeko needs three or four games to work with his team-mates and know the team well.
''It is not easy at the moment but Dzeko is a good player and so is Carlos. When you have two good players, it is easy to play together. Overall, we must improve.
''When you are 4-1 up after 75 minutes, you should control the game better, not think it is finished. In England the game is never finished.''
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