City had an early advantage through Ferran Torres’ cool finish and could have been a straight forward night against the Greek champions but had to work.
They needed Jesus, who had not played since 21st of September because of a knee injury, to come off the bench and score the teams’ second goal with nine minutes remaining, blasting the top of the net from a narrow angle.
Another substitute, Joao Cancelo, added to the shoreline when he brilliantly curled his effort for the third goal of the night.
This was the third consecutive match in the European competition City had scored three goals. The result means Pep Guardiola’s side need only a draw in the return leg in Greece on the 25th of November to make the knockout stage for an eighth successive season.
It took Jesus’s introduction to settle City’s nerves and avoid a tense finish, with Cancelo making absolutely certain of victory from the edge of the area.
It was the perfect night for Man City, who welcomes Premier League champions Liverpool to Etihad Stadium on Sunday but, with a performance far from convincing, they will have to step up to take on their rivals.
Olympiacos barely made it into City half of the pitch but grew in confidence after half time and were only unfortunate and finished poorly.
Phil Foden’s loose ball to John stones would have been punished by an equalizer but Mathieu Valbuena put his effort wide on goal.
Youssef El-Arabi brought the first save from Ederson soon afterwards, but Jose Holebas blasted wastefully out of the reach of the goal after dashing into the final third down the left.
City held on to record a 3-0 win and a clean sheet.
