After a couple of very good wins in the first two weeks of the Premier League season, Manchester City welcomed the visit of Stoke City to The Etihad, but were left reeling after Mark Hughes’ side left with the three points following a poor performance from the hosts. Echoing times last season, City looked very pedestrian for long periods of the game, with Stoke sitting back and absorbing City’s pressure well.
There were a few changes to please City fans prior to the game. Sergio Agüero was back in the side for his first start of the season following two goals in about 15 minutes of action in the two previous games, whilst Aleksandar Kolarov was back in the team at left-back. Bacary Sagna also made his debut for City, replacing Pablo Zabaleta at right-back.
City started well and looked the better team for the early part of the game. They attacked well and even went relatively close. Stoke threatened mainly on the break but didn’t put any real pressure on Joe Hart for most of the first half. After around 20 minutes The Potters started to keep the ball better, and evened out the possession, frustrating City and Manuel Pellegrini. Yaya Touré almost put City ahead moments before the break, striking the crossbar following a Kolarov cross.
Pellegrini had words with his team at half-time, and sent them out to deliver a new threat to Stoke. A few corners were won – which weren’t capitalised upon, due to the height of the visiting team – but The Blues couldn’t really find gaps or holes in the solid Stoke defence. Then on 58 minutes City were made to pay for their complacency.
Following another corner headed away by a member of the Stoke defence, ex-Manchester United striker Mame Biram Diouf won the ball and ran half the distance of the pitch, past Fernandinho, before sliding the ball underneath the flailing Joe Hart, who probably could have done better as could the defence. City have looked vulnerable on the counter-attack for some while and it undid them again on Saturday.
Following that City tried to fight their way back into the game, but looked unimpressive for long parts of the final half an hour. The Blues had the ball for a lot of that time, but struggled to do anything with it, passing sluggishly and with a lack of options. Players weren’t making those vital runs that were so successful last year. There was also a high proportion of long balls, which are a risky – and often unsuccessful – tactic against Stoke.
It may have been a poor result and a poor performance – especially by the standards that City fans have come to expect under Manuel Pellegrini, but City fans will remember that it is only August, it is only the third game of the season and there’s still time left in the transfer window for Pellegrini to bring in anyone he feels he needs. It’s not an ideal result in any shape or form, but it could be a lot worse.
